A hybrid artificial potential field method for autonomous surface vessel path planning in dynamic riverine environment

A hybrid Artificial Potential Field (APF) method is addressed in this paper for Autonomous Surface Vessel (ASV) cruising in the dynamic riverine environment. Firstly, a balance control scheme is proposed to replace the attractive potential function and perform the ASV tracking along the centerline of the river. Then, to simplify the repulsive potential function, the relative velocity between ASV and obstacle is derived from relative position, which reduces the requirement of on-board sensing. Finally, two challenging scenarios, head-on situation and overtaking situation, where ASV encounters another moving ship in a river are simulated. The simulation results illustrate that the proposed hybrid APF method is effective for simultaneous path planning and obstacle avoidance in the dynamic riverine environment.