Swarm intelligence based multi-objective path planning in environments cluttered with danger sources

Most often mobile robots are required to move and work in environments containing potential sources of danger, such as fire in rescue operations, landmines and fighters in battlefields, etc. In order to successfully complete an assigned task, a robot must evade the aforementioned danger sources. A multi-objective path planning algorithm based on Dynamic Neighborhood Particle Swarm Optimization for mobile robots moving in environments populated with danger zones is presented in this paper. The objectives considered in this research study for optimization are path length and path safety. Capability and efficiency of the algorithm is demonstrated in various environments via simulation results.