An improved artificial potential field for vessel collision-avoidance path planning

Aiming at the drawbacks of traditional artificial potential field method in local path planning for USV (unmanned surface vehicle), an improved artificial potential field method is proposed. Firstly, establish a model for ship collision risk based on the quaternion ship domain. In the gravitational potential field model, Add the gravity of the given route. In the repulsion field model, the influence factors such as relative position and relative velocity are introduced. Four subdivided zones around the own ship are defined to determine the corresponding virtual repulsive potential to ensure International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS)-constrained behaviour for the own ship’s CA actions. The rationality and superiority of the proposed improved artificial potential field method are verified by simulation and comparison experiments Simulations demonstrate that the method is fast, effective, and deterministic for path planning in complex situations with moving target ships, and has been proved to work effectively in a complex navigation environment.