Development of an Advanced VANET Architecture for Efficient Path Planning in Curved, Hilly Terrains

This research work presents an advanced Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET)) architecture, adept at navigating challenging curved and hilly terrains in real-time scenarios. The system is equipped with dual AT mega 328P Microcontrollers, Neo 6M GPS, HC-05 Bluetooth, L293D DC Motor Controller for a four-wheel geared motor drive, NRF24L01 transceiver, and HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor, enabling comprehensive path planning. The field tests in hilly terrains focused on optimizing curvature radius and speed during turns, particularly when encountering opposite vehicles. This study has achieved an optimum curvature radius of 15 meters, which ensured safe and efficient navigation on sharp bends with a maximum slope of 12%. The optimum speed for these turns was maintained at 30 km/h, balancing safety, and efficiency. These settings resulted in a 35% increase in path optimization efficiency and a 20% improvement in collision avoidance. Additionally, our real-time communication via Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) showed a significant reduction in latency to 35 milliseconds and a data transmission reliability of 97%, crucial for timely decision-making in dynamic environments. These outcomes underscore the capability of our Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) architecture in enhancing autonomous vehicle navigation on challenging terrains.