Design of a Ship Path Planning Scheme Incorporating Wind and Current Effects with COLREGS Compliance

Path planning algorithms are critical technologies for intelligent ship systems, as scientifically optimized paths enable safe navigation and efficient avoidance of waterborne obstacles. To address the limitations of current ship path planning models, which often fail to adequately consider the combined effects of wind, current, and the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), this study proposes an enhanced path planning method. The method integrates environmental factors, such as wind and current, and COLREGS into an improved Artificial Potential Field(APF) framework. Specifically, the influence of wind and current is modeled as "environmental forces," while the navigation constraints imposed by COLREGS are transformed into virtual obstacles, generating corresponding repulsive forces to refine the algorithm. Simulation experiments conducted under both single-ship and multi-ship scenarios validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach, demonstrating its potential to align planned paths more closely with real-world navigational conditions.