%0 Journal Article %T GA-based Global Path Planning for Mobile Robot Employing A* Algorithm %A Cen Zeng %A Qiang Zhang %A Xiaopeng Wei %J Journal of Computers %D 2012 %I Academy Publisher %R 10.4304/jcp.7.2.470-474 %X Global path planning for mobile robot using genetic algorithm and A* algorithm is investigated in this paper. The proposed algorithm includes three steps: the MAKLINK graph theory is adopted to establish the free space model of mobile robots firstly, then Dijkstra algorithm is utilized for finding a feasible collision-free path, finally the global optimal path of mobile robots is obtained based on the hybrid algorithm of A* algorithm and genetic algorithm. Experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm has better performance than Dijkstra algorithm in term of both solution quality and computational time, and thus it is a viable approach to mobile robot global path planning. %U http://ojs.academypublisher.com/index.php/jcp/article/view/6791