Energy optimized D* AUV path planning with underwater digital terrain and ocean current environment

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) path planning in the marine environment is different from that in the terrestrial environment. It is important to extend the map to a three-dimensional environment and consider how ocean currents affect the planned path in addition to energy use and safe obstacle avoidance. To solve the above problems, Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is introduced to build a three-dimensional map, and on the basis of the original cost function, obstacle cost items and steering angle cost items are added as constraints to ensure the safety of AUV navigation. Considering the huge impact of ocean currents on AUV energy consumption, this paper establishes a cost model for the impact of ocean currents on AUV energy consumption, and applies it to the D* path planning algorithm. It can be seen from the simulation experiment that AUV can use ocean current to reduce energy consumption. Simulation results show that the improved algorithm can plan the optimal path of energy consumption.