Path Planning for First Responders in the Presence of Moving Obstacles With Uncertain Boundaries

In this paper, we study path planning for first responders in the presence of uncertain moving obstacles. To support the path planning, in our research we use hazard simulation to provide the predicted information of moving obstacles. A major problem in using hazard simulation is that the simulation results may involve uncertainty due to model errors or noise in the real measurements. To address this problem, we provide an approach to handle the uncertainty in the information of moving obstacles, and apply it to the case of toxic plumes. Our contribution consists of two parts: 1) a spatial data model that supports the representation of uncertain obstacles from hazard simulations and their influence on the road network and 2) a modified A* algorithm that can deal with the uncertainty and generate fast and safe routes passing though the obstacles. The experimental results show the routing capability of our approach and its potential for the application to real disasters.