Optimal Interceptions on Two-Dimensional Grids with Obstacles

This article presents efficient and practical methods for path planning of optimal interceptions on two-dimensional grids with obstacles, such as raster charts or non-distorted digital maps. The proposed methods search for optimal paths from sources to multiple moving-targets by a novel higher geometry wave propagation scheme in the grids, instead of the traditional vector scheme in the graphs. By introducing a time-matching scheme, the optimal interception paths from sources to all the moving-targets are obtained among the combinations with linear time and space complexities. Two optimal path planning methods for multiple one-to-one interceptions, the MIN-MAX and MIN-AVG, are applied to emulate the real routing.