Real path planning based on genetic algorithm and Voronoi diagrams

Abstract

In the context of Mobile Robotics, the efficient resolution of the Path Planning problem is a key task. The model of the environment and the search algorithm are basic issues in the resolution of the problem. This paper highlights the main features of Path Planning proposal for mobile robots in static environments. In our proposal, the path planning is based on Voronoi diagrams, where obstacles in the environment are considered as the generating points of the diagram, and a genetic algorithm is used to find a path without collisions from the robot initial to target position. This work combines some ideas presented by Roque and Doering, who use Voronoi diagrams for modelling the environment, and other ideas presented by Zhang et al. who adopt a genetic algorithm for computing paths on a regular grid based environment, considering certain quality attributes. The main results were probed both in simulated and real environments.