Ground-Aware Octree-A* Hybrid Path Planning for Memory-Efficient 3D Navigation of Ground Vehicles

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ham, Byeong-Il, Kim, Hyun-Bin, Kim, Kyung-Soo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Ham, Byeong-Il
Kim, Hyun-Bin
Kim, Kyung-Soo
author_facet Ham, Byeong-Il
Kim, Hyun-Bin
Kim, Kyung-Soo
contents In this paper, we propose a 3D path planning method that integrates the A* algorithm with the octree structure. Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) and legged robots have been extensively studied, enabling locomotion across a variety of terrains. Advances in mobility have enabled obstacles to be regarded not only as hindrances to be avoided, but also as navigational aids when beneficial. A modified 3D A* algorithm generates an optimal path by leveraging obstacles during the planning process. By incorporating a height-based penalty into the cost function, the algorithm enables the use of traversable obstacles to aid locomotion while avoiding those that are impassable, resulting in more efficient and realistic path generation. The octree-based 3D grid map achieves compression by merging high-resolution nodes into larger blocks, especially in obstacle-free or sparsely populated areas. This reduces the number of nodes explored by the A* algorithm, thereby improving computational efficiency and memory usage, and supporting real-time path planning in practical environments. Benchmark results demonstrate that the use of octree structure ensures an optimal path while significantly reducing memory usage and computation time.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_04950
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Ground-Aware Octree-A* Hybrid Path Planning for Memory-Efficient 3D Navigation of Ground Vehicles
Ham, Byeong-Il
Kim, Hyun-Bin
Kim, Kyung-Soo
Robotics
In this paper, we propose a 3D path planning method that integrates the A* algorithm with the octree structure. Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) and legged robots have been extensively studied, enabling locomotion across a variety of terrains. Advances in mobility have enabled obstacles to be regarded not only as hindrances to be avoided, but also as navigational aids when beneficial. A modified 3D A* algorithm generates an optimal path by leveraging obstacles during the planning process. By incorporating a height-based penalty into the cost function, the algorithm enables the use of traversable obstacles to aid locomotion while avoiding those that are impassable, resulting in more efficient and realistic path generation. The octree-based 3D grid map achieves compression by merging high-resolution nodes into larger blocks, especially in obstacle-free or sparsely populated areas. This reduces the number of nodes explored by the A* algorithm, thereby improving computational efficiency and memory usage, and supporting real-time path planning in practical environments. Benchmark results demonstrate that the use of octree structure ensures an optimal path while significantly reducing memory usage and computation time.
title Ground-Aware Octree-A* Hybrid Path Planning for Memory-Efficient 3D Navigation of Ground Vehicles
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.04950