UAV path planning based on bidirectional Sparse A* Search algorithm

Nowadays, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as an effective platform has been widely applied to military and civil fields. This paper focuses on UAV path planning problem. Sparse A* Search algorithm (SAS) proposed by R.J.SZCZERBA for route planning is introduced firstly. Then the Bidirectional Sparse A* Search algorithm (BSAS) is presented after the discussion of the deficiency of the application of SAS algorithm in UAV path planning. BSAS algorithm expands the start point and goal point respectively for searching path and calculates whether there is a Line of Sight (LOS) between every two different expansion nodes produced by the two expansion processes to get UAV path. The results show that the BSAS algorithm has stronger robustness and obtains better planning path than the SAS algorithm.