A Novel Sparrow Particle Swarm Algorithm (SPSA) for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Path Planning

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has been widely used in various fields, and meeting practical high-quality flight paths is one of the crucial functions of UAV. Many algorithms have the problem of too fast convergence and premature in UAV path planning. This study proposed a sparrow particle swarm algorithm for UAV path planning, the SPSA. The algorithm selects a suitable model for path initialization, changes the discoverer position update, and reinforces the influence of start-end line on path search, which can significantly reduce blind search. The number of target points reached is increased by adaptive variable speed escapes in areas of deadlock. In this case, the planned trajectory will fluctuate, and adaptive oscillation optimization can effectively reduce the fluctuation of the path. Finally, the optimal path is simplified, and the path nodes are interpolated with cubic splines to improve the smoothness of the path, which improves the smoothness of the UAV flight trajectory and makes it more suitable for use as the UAV real flight trajectory. By comparison, it can be concluded that the improved SPSA has good convergence speed and better search results and can avoid local optimality.