U*: GA-based path planning algorithm for surface floating garbage cleaning robot

Abstract

Marine debris is a serious global problem that is not limited to areas where humans live but also drifts around the world with wind and currents. More than 10 million tons of plastic waste flow into the ocean every year, posing a major threat to humanity. This study designs a path planning algorithm for surface garbage-cleaning robots called U*, which aims to improve the efficiency of salvaging marine debris and reduce labor and time costs. The U* algorithm consists of two procedures: exploration and path-planning. The exploration procedure searches for marine debris, while the path-planning procedure predicts the possible location of marine debris using the velocity and direction of ocean currents and finds the shortest path by using a genetic algorithm (GA) to collect the found marine debris. According to the experimental results, the U* method is more efficient in terms of reducing path length and time costs.