Path Planning of Oil Spill Recovery System With Double USVs Based on Artificial Potential Field Method

Path planning for recovery is studied on the engineering background of double unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) towing oil booms for oil spill recovery. Given the influence of obstacles on the sea, the improved artificial potential field (APF) method is used for path planning. For addressing the two problems of unreachable target and local minimum in the APF, three improved algorithms are proposed by combining the motion performance constraints of the double USV system. These algorithms are then combined as the final APF-123 algorithm for oil spill recovery. Multiple sets of simulation tests are designed according to the flaws of the APF and the process of oil spill recovery. Results show that the proposed algorithms can ensure the system’s safety in tracking oil spills in a complex environment, and the speed is increased by more than 40