Research On All-terrain Vehicle Path Planning Technology Based On Geographic Information System

All-terrain vehicles are being widely used in the area of military operations, agriculture and forestry works, fire control and etc. In consideration of the field environment, which is very complex, and with variable terrain and complex geological conditions, the path planning for the all-terrain vehicles is very needed, in order to assure the safe driving of the vehicles. Although the digital map of the city, used for showing the roads and buildings, is being gradually improved recently, it is very deficient in the field area, which is far away from the cities. Therefore, it is necessary to combine all variety of geographic information to generate a digital map of the field area, which can be utilized for path planning for the all-tarrain vehicles or other special vehicles.Aiming at the all-terrain environment, the influence factors, which may affect the traffic ability of the all-terrain vehicles, have been analysed. And the degree of the influence of the factors is obtained. Then, combining several influence factors, which have been analysed already, a digital map, or a traffic ability information model, which includes the information of the geological conditions, terrain and surface features, is generated. On the basis of the model, a data structure, used for the path planning, is generated. With the use of the data structure, the optimal path planning for the all-terrain vehicles is realized, combining the Dijkstra algorithm and the improved A* algorithm. In the end, on the basis of ArcGIS and C#, and with the use of the ArcGIS Engine, a path planning system for all-terrain vehicles is developed. With the use of the system, the optimal path in different conditions can be obtained, based on the relevant traffic ability model, which can be generated by the users through setting the traffic ability value.