Abstract: An improved artificial potential field method is proposed to solve the problems of local minimum and unable to reach the target in the path planning of mobile robots. Firstly, in order for the robot to reach the target point when there are obstacles near the target point due to the large repulsive force, a safe distance factor is introduced into the potential field, and this parameter is optimized, so that the robot can maintain a proper distance from the obstacles and reach the target point smoothly. Secondly, in order to solve the local minimum problem, the local minimum discriminant condition is introduced, and the local minimum region is circum- navigated when the condition is triggered, so that the robot can reach the target point smoothly. The simulation results show that the improved algorithm has strong robustness when operating in the map environment with different number of obstacles. The proposed algorithm can make the robot bypass the local minimum area in the U-shaped obstacle environment, and successfully solve the local minimum problem in the mobile robot path planning.

Key words: artificial potential field method, mobile robot, path planning, local minimum, safety distance factor, U-shaped obstacle