How can i consider vehicle dimensions in the plannerHybridAStar command?

Hi everyone,

I benefit from plannerHybridAStar command for my simulated vehicle to obtain the shortest path. In this link, a useful function can be used to find the shortest path, however vehicle dimensions are ignored.

Is there any way to perform same task considering vehicle dimensions?

Thanks,

Answer 1

[Aravind]

Hello @Volcano,

It sounds like you want to incorporate the vehicle's size into the Hybrid A* Planner. Typically, this is done by inflating the size of the obstacles by an amount greater than the vehicle's size. This ensures that even if the algorithm treats the vehicle as a point, the path generated will avoid collisions since the obstacles are effectively larger to account for the vehicle's dimensions.

To achieve obstacle inflation for the Hybrid A* Planner in MATLAB, you should replace the "binaryOccupancyMap" with a "vehicleCostmap" object. The "vehicleCostmap" object allows you to use an "inflationCollisionChecker" object to inflate the obstacles on the map, thus accounting for the vehicle's size. You can specify the desired inflation radius using the "InflationRadius" property of the "inflationCollisionChecker" object.

Keep in mind that when using the "vehicleCostmap" object with the "plannerHybridAStar" function, you should use "validatorVehicleCostmap" instead of "validatorOccupancyMap" as the function's argument.

Here are some documentation links for more information on these functions:

1. validatorVehicleCostmap: https://www.mathworks.com/help/nav/ref/validatorvehiclecostmap.html
2. vehicleCostmap: https://www.mathworks.com/help/driving/ref/vehiclecostmap.html
3. inflationCollisionChecker: https://www.mathworks.com/help/driving/ref/driving.costmap.inflationcollisionchecker.html
4. Example of inflating obstacles in a "vehicleCostmap": https://www.mathworks.com/help/nav/ref/validatorvehiclecostmap.html#mw_31aec9f0-0eb7-406b-9423-20a6c3184662
5. Example of path planning on an inflated "vehicleCostmap": https://www.mathworks.com/help/driving/ref/driving.costmap.inflationcollisionchecker.html#mw_e1a2f093-dde7-444f-aa2f-96ede51ebccc

I hope this helps resolve your query!

[Volcano]

Dear @Aravind,

Thank you for your response.

I have just tried to use your suggestions based on the links given below. I can now represent the vehicle with dimensions and create obstacles with inflatable areas.

Best regards,