Design and testing of Hybrid Slime Mold Algorithm for Real-Time Adaptive Mobile Robot Path Planning in Dynamic Environments

Dynamic path planning and collision prevention is one of the key tasks for autonomous vehicles in relation to dynamic movement of obstacles. In this paper, a novel hybrid approach based on integration of Slime Mold Algorithm (SMA), Triangle Inequality Principle (TIP), and Partition Method Strategy (PMS) for solution of this problem statement. The SMA algorithm is very flexible and adaptive by nature due to its biological working mechanism which is associated with TIP and PMS strategies in relation to their optimization and efficient path planning capabilities and robust solutions. This integrated module is tested in virtual environment and the results are compared with other updated algorithms such as A*, Genetic Algorithm (GA), and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) for the same static and dynamic environment. It has been observed from the results that this hybrid strategy significantly improves the path planning task several times than other algorithms in terms of multiple aspects. Under testing conditions, the path length was reduced to 25% than other algorithms in a dynamic environment. During this calculation, the computational efficiency of the system has been improved to 60% than conventional methods. The chances of collision have been improved to 34.23% especially in environment where the obstacles are moving. The capability of SMA has been improved due to the synergy between TIP and PMS. The dynamic and adaptive nature of this algorithm is suitable for various applications such as search-and-rescue operations, manufacturing units’ automation and other hazardous environment exploration.