# An Autonomous Path Planning Method for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle based on A Tangent Intersection and Target Guidance Strategy

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.04103 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.04103/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 7 Jun 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Enhanced UAV Path Planning Using the Tangent Intersection Guidance (TIG) Algorithm](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.18967/) (2025)
- [UAV 3-D path planning based on MOEA/D with adaptive areal weight adjustment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.10307/) (2023)
- [Comparative Analysis of UAV Path Planning Algorithms for Efficient Navigation in Urban 3D Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.16515/) (2025)
- [FlexPath: Adapting Learned Connectivity Guidance to Path Preferences](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.10167/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) path planning enables UAVs to avoid obstacles and reach the target efficiently. To generate high-quality paths without obstacle collision for UAVs, this paper proposes a novel autonomous path planning algorithm based on a tangent intersection and target guidance strategy (APPATT). Guided by a target, the elliptic tangent graph method is used to generate two sub-paths, one of which is selected based on heuristic rules when confronting an obstacle. The UAV flies along the selected sub-path and repeatedly adjusts its flight path to avoid obstacles through this way until the collision-free path extends to the target. Considering the UAV kinematic constraints, the cubic B-spline curve is employed to smooth the waypoints for obtaining a feasible path. Compared with A*, PRM, RRT and VFH, the experimental results show that APPATT can generate the shortest collision-free path within 0.05 seconds for each instance under static environments. Moreover, compared with VFH and RRTRW, APPATT can generate satisfactory collision-free paths under uncertain environments in a nearly real-time manner. It is worth noting that APPATT has the capability of escaping from simple traps within a reasonable time.