Path planning with homotopy class constraints on bathymetric maps

This paper is presented in the context of the TRIDENT European project. The paper proposes a path planning approach that uses homotopy classes to guide the path search in bathymetric maps. First, it turns the bathymetry into a 2D workspace. Then, it builds a topological environment based on the workspace to compute homotopy classes, which topologically describe how paths go through the obstacles in the workspace. The homotopy classes are sorted according to an heuristic estimation of their lower bound. Then, a path planner based on the A∗, called Homotopic A∗ (HA∗), guides the path search in the workspace using the generated homotopy classes. Simulated and real results with a bathymetric map obtained with a Multibeam Profiling Sonar (MPS) sensor in the Catalan coast show the feasibility of the proposal.