PQ-RRT*: An improved path planning algorithm for mobile robots

During the last decade, sampling-based algorithms for path planning have gained considerable attention. The RRT*, a variant of RRT (rapidly-exploring random trees), is of particular concern to researchers due to its asymptotic optimality. However, the limits of the slow convergence rate of RRT* makes it inefficient for applications. For the purposes of overcoming these limitations, this paper proposes a novel algorithm, PQ-RRT*, which combines the strengths of P-RRT* (potential functions based RRT*) and Quick-RRT*. PQ-RRT* guarantees a fast convergence to an optimal solution and generates a better initial solution. The asymptotic optimality and fast convergence of the proposed algorithm are proved in this paper. Comparisons of PQ-RRT* with P-RRT* and Quick-RRT* in four benchmarks verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.