An Improved UAV 3D Path Planning Method Based on BiRRT-APF
Shuyue Liu, Wenmao Zhou, Mingwei Qin, Xin Peng · 2025
In complex urban environments, UAV path planning is challenging due to spatial constraints. To enhance efficiency and safety, this paper proposes an improved 3D path planning method that integrates Bi-directional Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (BiRRT) with Artificial Potential Field (APF). The attractive field of APF guides the expansion direction of BiRRT trees, while the A* heuristic strategy accelerates their connection. Additionally, to ensure a smoother UAV path, the Catmull-Rom spline smoothing method is applied. Simulation results demonstrate that the improved BiRRT-APF algorithm effectively avoids obstacles and successfully reaches the destination in a 3D environment. Compared to the RRT-APF algorithm, the proposed method reduces the number of nodes by 91.04%and decreases runtime by 94.63%. These results confirm that the improved BiRRT-APF achieves efficient and safe UAV path planning in complex urban environments.