Multiple Obstacles Avoidance Path Planning for Unmanned Surface Vehicle

Water surface missions often use Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) for various missions above the water surface, from special missions such as liquefying victims to regular missions such as shallow sea depth mapping to produce bathymetric maps. As an autonomous vehicle, USV must have the ability to avoid obstacles. This paper explains a multi-obstacle avoidance path planning system in an USV. Along with waypoint navigation, the addition of Velodyne VLP-16 LiDAR technology and cameras enables real-time object detection and environmental mapping. The proposed method simultaneously combines waypoint input, object detection, and position mapping, effectively creating a dynamic obstacle database. By utilizing this database, the USV can calculate collision-free paths in real time, ensuring safe navigation. We validate our system on the Nala Proteus hull, successfully guiding it through a 20-meter track with three obstacles without colliding, thus demonstrating the efficiency and effectiveness of this system.