An A^*-EC hybrid path planning method for waypoint traveling problem considering terrain

This paper proposes an A^* algorithm - EC hybrid path planning method which can find out a suboptimal path quickly for a waypoint traveling problem with terrain and obstacles. In this method, A ^* algorithm searches optimal legs between all two waypoints while avoiding terrain and obstacles, and Evolutionary Computation (EC) tries to combine these legs into an optimal path. The authors apply this method to 30 waypoint traveling problem with terrain and 3 obstacles, and the simulation results show that calculation time is less than 6 seconds on average. Furthermore, we have confirmed that we can use this method in real time by using the real time simulator with the on-board computer for path planning which is planned to be used for flight testing.