An exact coverage path planning algorithm for UAV-based search and rescue operations

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Kazemdehbashi, Sina, Liu, Yanchao
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
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author Kazemdehbashi, Sina
Liu, Yanchao
author_facet Kazemdehbashi, Sina
Liu, Yanchao
contents Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly utilized in global search and rescue efforts, enhancing operational efficiency. In these missions, a coordinated swarm of UAVs is deployed to efficiently cover expansive areas by capturing and analyzing aerial imagery and footage. Rapid coverage is paramount in these scenarios, as swift discovery can mean the difference between life and death for those in peril. This paper focuses on optimizing flight path planning for multiple UAVs in windy conditions to efficiently cover rectangular search areas in minimal time. We address this challenge by dividing the search area into a grid network and formulating it as a mixed-integer program (MIP). Our research introduces a precise lower bound for the objective function and an exact algorithm capable of finding either the optimal solution or a near-optimal solution with a constant absolute gap to optimality. Notably, as the problem complexity increases, our solution exhibits a diminishing relative optimality gap while maintaining negligible computational costs compared to the MIP approach.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_11399
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle An exact coverage path planning algorithm for UAV-based search and rescue operations
Kazemdehbashi, Sina
Liu, Yanchao
Robotics
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly utilized in global search and rescue efforts, enhancing operational efficiency. In these missions, a coordinated swarm of UAVs is deployed to efficiently cover expansive areas by capturing and analyzing aerial imagery and footage. Rapid coverage is paramount in these scenarios, as swift discovery can mean the difference between life and death for those in peril. This paper focuses on optimizing flight path planning for multiple UAVs in windy conditions to efficiently cover rectangular search areas in minimal time. We address this challenge by dividing the search area into a grid network and formulating it as a mixed-integer program (MIP). Our research introduces a precise lower bound for the objective function and an exact algorithm capable of finding either the optimal solution or a near-optimal solution with a constant absolute gap to optimality. Notably, as the problem complexity increases, our solution exhibits a diminishing relative optimality gap while maintaining negligible computational costs compared to the MIP approach.
title An exact coverage path planning algorithm for UAV-based search and rescue operations
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.11399