A TC-RRT-based path planning algorithm for the nonholonomic mobile robots

In this paper, a triangle-curvature RRT-based path planning algorithm is proposed for the application of nonholonomic mobile robots in complex environment. The algorithm named triangle-curvature RRT (TC-RRT) considers both environmental constraints and vehicle constraints. The triangular geometry is introduced into the RRT algorithm. The pruning function is applied in post-processing path to remove the needless nodes that the path length can be shortened. The fixing angle intersection method is proposed to improve the turning path smoothness. Finally, the Cantmull-Rom interpolation is used to improve the path smoothness. In this paper, the TC-RRT algorithm is compared with the basic RRT algorithm and BI-RRT algorithm. The results of simulation show that the convergence rate of TC-RRT algorithm is faster than the other two, and the smooth path with the shortest distance can be produced which can also satisfy the nonholonomic constraint of mobile robots.