High-traversability and efficient path optimization for deep-sea mining vehicles considering complex seabed environmental factors

In cobalt-rich crust regions, rapid and safe pathfinding is critical for the operation of Deep-Sea Mining Vehicles (DSMVs). However, existing pathfinding solutions rarely account for traversability predictions in complex mining environments and extensive map data often results in computational inefficiencies. This paper proposes a High-Traversability and Efficient Path Optimization (HTEPO) strategy designed to ensure safe navigation and rapid decision-making accounting for complex seabed environmental factors. Initially, we develop a traversability assessment model combining the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with the Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation (FCE) method. This model assigns traversability scores to map out high-risk and impassable areas effectively. We then introduce a novel map model that integrates these scores with Voronoi diagrams to reduce search space and improve computing efficiency, ensuring safer route selections. Further, based on traversability index and map model, an enhanced A* algorithm equipped with adaptive heuristic weights is utilized to swiftly identify high-traversability paths for the DSMVs. Finally, three case studies with different seabed mining environments validate the excellent performance of the proposed method over other major existing methods in terms of path safety and computational efficiency.