Formation control of robot cars with obstacle avoidance

In the process of studying the formation of robot cars, the route generated by the A* algorithm in the path planning process of robot cars can often be found that it is often broken lines with many inflection points. To solve this problem, a method is proposed to further process the route generated by the A* algorithm and generate smooth curves as the route is more conducive to the execution of robot cars. Although a certain amount of time will be spent in A* algorithm path planning, successful obstacle avoidance cannot be guaranteed if only the A* algorithm is used for path planning in scenarios where obstacles suddenly appear. Therefore, this paper combines the A* algorithm with the artificial potential field method. After the obstacle appears, the artificial potential field method is used to calculate the potential field, and the potential field direction where the robot car is located is taken as the direction of the control speed, and a new path is planned..The reliability of our proposed method is verified by engineering practice, which provides a way of thinking for unmanned vehicle path planning and obstacle avoidance.