Unmanned aerial vehicle path planning with hybrid motion algorithm for obstacle avoidance

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are gaining prominence in autonomously navigating diverse terrains, requiring the capability to establish collision-free trajectories and adapt them on-the-fly to changing environments. This study's central contribution lies in devising an optimized motion planning framework tailored for UAVs operating amidst dynamic scenarios. This framework comprises two integral components: an optimized motion planner and a dynamic scenario generator. To enhance trajectory optimization, the optimized motion planner enhances the Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (RRTX) method with a Covariant Hamiltonian Optimization for Motion Planning (CHOMP) algorithm-based optimizer. Addressing the challenges posed by dynamic environments characterized by abrupt appearance, disappearance, or shifting of constraints, the motion planner adeptly identifies environmental changes and computes collision-free paths during UAV navigation. The dynamic scenario generator integrates a UAV simulator and barrier information, effectively emulating UAV obstacles and intended flight patterns within a Unity-based simulation environment. The simulator employed is Flight Mare, a versatile quadrotor simulator that employs Unity's graphics engine and a physics engine for dynamic simulations. Through comprehensive simulations, the proposed approach is validated, demonstrating its efficacy in enabling UAVs to autonomously navigate dynamic environments while avoiding obstacles successfully.