Dynamic Obstacle Avoidance Path Planning Algorithm Based on the Fusion of Improved A* and DWA

In dynamic environments, the traditional A* algorithm is apt to suffer from issues such as low search efficiency, unnecessary turning points, close proximity to obstacles, and no obstacle avoidance capability in global path planning.To address these issues, this paper presents a new path planning method that integrates an optimized A* algorithm and the Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) to enhance the mobile robot's navigation efficiency and obstacle avoidance ability in dynamic environments.During the global path planning process, multi-dimensional optimizations are incorporated into the A* algorithm.They include optimizing the cost function, taking multi-round polyline optimization approaches, and avoiding obstacle vertices, which successfully reduce unnecessary turning points in the path, reduce the frequency of turns, smooth the path curvature, and greatly enhance the search efficiency of the algorithm.In the local obstacle avoidance stage, the distance factor of dynamic obstacles is incorporated into the DWA evaluation function system to enhance the robot's ability to avoid dynamic obstacles.To verify the effectiveness of this method, a series of simulation experiments was conducted in a grid map environment built on the MATLAB platform.Comparative experiments of the classic A* algorithm, improved A* algorithm, and the proposed fusion algorithm were conducted under various dynamic obstacle collision threat scenarios.The experimental results show that this paper's fusion algorithm has higher path planning quality, obstacle avoidance success rate, and real-time performance than traditional algorithms, realizing stable and reliable navigation of paths.