This manuscript presents a heuristic algorithm based on geometric concepts
for the problem of finding a path composed of line segments from a given or
igin to a given destination in the presence of polygonal obstacles. The bas
ic idea involves constructing circumscribing triangles around the obstacles
to be avoided. Our heuristic algorithm considers paths composed primarily
of line segments corresponding to partial edges of these circumscribing tri
angles, and uses a simple branch-and-bound procedure to find a relatively s
hort path of this type. This work was motivated by the military planning pr
oblem of developing mission plans for cruise missiles, but is applicable to
any two-dimensional path-planning problem involving obstacles.