A Dynamic Path Planning Method for Mobile Robot Based on Virtual Potential Field and Virtual Impedance Model

This article proposes a dynamic path planning method for mobile robots based on virtual potential field and virtual impedance model (VPF-VIM). In the scheme, a bi-stage planning method is first presented by combining the VPF with particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, where a novel VIM is introduced to modify local path and achieve dynamic path planning. In this way, the drawbacks of artificial potential field (APF) method, such as local minimum, unreachable target and excessive obstacle avoidance, can be then avoided. The simulation results show that the proposed method can prevent the robot from getting stuck in local minimum, overcome the problem of unreachable target and greatly reduce unnecessary obstacle avoidance in comparison to the APF method.