Mobile robot path planning based on ORCA and improved DWA method

This paper focussed on the development of a dynamic and efficient obstacle avoidance path planning algorithm based on ORCA-DWA algorithm, which combines the Optimal Reciprocal Collision Avoidance (ORCA) algorithm and an improved Dynamic Window Approach (DWA), for improving the quality and efficiency of globally planned paths and ensuring obstacle avoidance between robots for local path planning. This combined ORCA-DWA approach effectively combines the speed of DWA planning with the preferred speed of the ORCA algorithm, it not only solves the problem of the ORCA algorithm's difficulty in determining the preferred speed, but also does not deviate from its optimal trajectory while avoiding obstacles. Additionally, an improved dynamic windowing method is proposed to enhance the adaptability to the environment. As a result, the mobile robot can not only use the DWA algorithm to achieve global path optimisation during navigation, but also achieve obstacle avoidance with the shortest time and path while following the robot's own constraints and considering the robot's radius. Simulation results prove that the method can greatly reduce the length and time of path planning and show that this new algorithm can make the robot's speed smoother.