A multistage approach to the shortest path on curved surface based on simulated annealing optimization

The paper presents our initial work on the shortest path on curved surface. The problem is modeled with node sequence so as to apply optimization methods for solution. The Metropolis Criterion-based optimization mechanism of simulated annealing is introduced as the stochastic search framework. A multistage optimization approach is studied to obtain the global optimal path with considerable precision. Several significant advantages of the algorithm are concluded, namely, arbitrary precision, low computational complexity, and considerable reliability. The simulation and visualization studies show its novelty.