Path Planning Strategies for UAVS in 3D Environments

The graph-search algorithms developed between 60s and 80s were widely used in many fields, from robotics to video games. The A* algorithm shall be mentioned between some of the most important solutions explicitly oriented to motion-robotics, improving the logic of graph search with heuristic principles inside the loop. Nevertheless, one of the most important drawbacks of the A* algorithm resides in the heading constraints connected with the grid characteristics. Different solutions were developed in the last years to cope with this problem, based on post-processing algorithms or on improvements of the graph-search algorithm itself. A very important one is Theta* that refines the graph search allowing to obtain paths with "any" heading. In the last two years, the Flight Mechanics Research Group of Politecnico di Torino studied and implemented different path planning algorithms. A Matlab based planning tool was developed, collecting four separate approaches: geometric predefined trajectories, manual waypoint definition, automatic waypoint distribution (i.e. optimizing camera payload capabilities) and a comprehensive A*-based algorithm used to generate paths, minimizing risk of collision with orographic obstacles. The tool named PCube exploits Digital Elevation Maps (DEMs) to assess the risk maps and it can be used to generate waypoint sequences for UAVs autopilots. In order to improve the A*-based algorithm, the solution is extended to tri-dimensional environments implementing a more effective graph search (based on Theta*). In this paper the application of basic Theta* to tri-dimensional path planning will be presented. Particularly, the algorithm is applied to orographic obstacles and in urban environments, to evaluate the solution for different kinds of obstacles. Finally, a comparison with the A* algorithm will be introduced as a metric of the algorithm performances.