A 3-D Multi-Object Path Planning Method for Electric Vehicle Considering the Energy Consumption and Distance

The poor cruising range of electric vehicle (EV) is a problem preventing its popularity. To tackle this problem, methods such as battery technology, energy-based motion control technology are developed. This paper proposes a new solution from the perspective of path planning. Such a solution is called 3-D multi-object path planning method (3D-M method), in which both the energy consumption and distance are considered. The 3D-M method mainly realizes multi-object path planning by an energy consumption estimation model (ECEM) and a distance-integrated estimation model (DIEM). The ECEM can estimate the energy consumption between the neighbour position and the destination on the 3-D map, using a novel slope energy model considering energy consumption characteristic of the EV. The DIEM can estimate the integrated distance which includes the corresponding 2-D distance and 3-D distance, respectively. In the planning process, the outputs of ECEM and DIEM are combined to determine the cost of a path. In addition, a chaos-based multi-object optimizer (CBMOO) is used to search the optimal weights for the 3D-M method. The simulation experiments prove that the proposed method can generate an optimal path which saves much energy in comparison with the path provided by the distance-based method.