Energy-Efficient Path Planning for AMR Using Modified A* Algorithm with Machine Learning Integration

Mishell Cadena-Yanez, Danel Rico-Melgosa, Ekaitz Zulueta, Angela Bernardini, Jorge Rodriguez-Guerra

Energy consumption optimisation has emerged as a critical need in Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs). Conventional A* implementations typically minimise path distance, neglecting energy-relevant factors such as directional changes and trajectory smoothness that significantly impact battery life and operational costs. This work proposes two energy-aware A* variants trained on empirical data from the KUKA KMP 1500 platform, where energy consumption is measured as battery SoC depletion: A*-RF, which integrates a Random Forest (RF) model directly into the cost function, and A*-MOD, which approximates the energy model through RF feature importance weights, achieving linear computational complexity O(nf). The RF model predicted energy consumption with an RMSE below 1.5% relative error, identifying travel distance and rotation angle as the dominant energy factors. Experimental validation across 42 path planning scenarios on a real industrial factory floor demonstrates that A*-MOD reduces energy consumption by up to 58.91% and improves operational autonomy by 2.21 times, with statistically significant improvements (p < 0.01) across all evaluated metrics.