Mobile Robot Path Planning with Obstacle Avoidance using Particle Swarm Optimization

Abstract

This paper presents a constrained Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm for mobile robot path planning with obstacle avoidance. The optimization problem is analyzed in static and dynamic environments. A smooth path based on cubic splines is generated by the interpolation of optimization solution; the fitness function takes into consideration the path length and obstaclegenerated repulsive zones. World data transformation is introduced to reduce the optimization algorithm computational complexity. Different scenarios are used to test the algorithm in simulation and real-world experiments. In the latter case, a virtual robot following concept is exploited as part of the control strategy. The path generated by the algorithm is presented in results along with its execution by the mobile robot.