Optimum path planning for mobile robots

In this thesis, the path planning algorithms used for mobile robots were investigated. Robots are mostly mechanical devices programmed to perform certain repetitive functions. They can also be programmed to perform many tasks that can be complex or dangerous for people. In order to use robots more efficiently and to use resources more efficiently, they must pass the distance between starting points and target points with minimum cost. Many path planning algorithms have been developed for this purpose and it is important to know which algorithm is efficient for task robot. In this study with A* algorithm that giving optimum result and PRM algorithm which is one of the fastest performing algorithms have been examined in detail, recommendations to improve the PRM algorithm were presented and various tests were performed. In the study the outputs given by A* algorithm are accepted as the shortest way, other algorithm outputs are compared accordingly. Therefore to enable this algorithm to be stabilized, a node assignment has been made to the corner points of the obstacles in the environment and this method has been tested for different environments. With this new and unique method it has been observed that PRM algorithm gives stable results such as A* algorithm.