The Jump Point Search algorithm based ship path planning in the Arctic environment

The ship faces the challenge of complex sea ice conditions in the Arctic. To ensure safety and minimize the distance and search path time of the Arctic navigation, we propose an intelligent ship path planning method considering the influence of sea ice in the Arctic using the Jump Point Search (JPS) algorithm. The method dynamically evaluates the navigability from the POLARIS during path planning. The paths planned by JPS are the same length and quality as those planned by Dijkstra and A* algorithms. The number of searched nodes and the running time of the JPS algorithm are 0.03% of those of the Dijkstra algorithm. Furthermore, the JPS algorithm searches 2.68% of nodes searched in the A* algorithm and takes 0.31% of the time spent by the A* algorithm. The JPS algorithm has been justified as a suitable replacement for ship path planning in complex sea ice conditions of the conventional Dijkstra and A* algorithms in the Arctic.