Novel Path Planning Algorithm for the Mobile Robot in Power Transformer Substation

In response to the issue of low search efficiency caused by the large number of expanded nodes when mobile robots use traditional A^∗ algorithm for path planning in complex environments, an improved A^∗ algorithm based on four-way search has been proposed. This algorithm leverages Euclidean distance to weight the heuristic function on the basis of the traditional A^∗ algorithm and reduces the number of expanded nodes and search time through the four-way search algorithm. Subsequently, experiments were conducted using maps to verify the performance of the improved algorithm. The experimental results indicate that the simulation of the improved A^∗ algorithm based on four-way search can achieve higher search efficiency, with fewer expanded nodes, which is more conducive to the path planning of mobile robots.