Dubins Path-Oriented Rapidly Exploring Random Tree* for Three-Dimensional Path Planning of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) do not collide with obstacles, generate a path in real-time, and must fly to the target point. The sampling-based rapidly exploring random tree (RRT) algorithm has the advantages of fast computation and low computational complexity. It is suitable for real-time path generation, but the optimal path cannot be guaranteed. Further, the direction of the flight and the minimum radius of rotation have not been taken into account for the characteristics of the UAVs. This work proposes a Dubins path-oriented RRT* algorithm, which applies the Dubins path to the RRT algorithm to consider the direction of flight and the minimum radius of rotation and improves optimality and convergence. The proposed algorithm sets the sample node as the target point, orients toward the Dubins path, and then generates a tree. To verify the performance of the proposed algorithm, it is compared with existing RRT algorithms. As a result of performance analysis, the proposed algorithm improved the path length by 14.87% and the calculation time by 82.36%. Finally, the algorithm’s performance is verified by applying the proposed algorithm to a fixed-wing UAV and performing a numerical analysis of the generated path