R-DFS: A Coverage Path Planning Approach Based on Region Optimal Decomposition

Research on route planning for solar UAV based on the intelligent optimization algorithm

The solar unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) route planning needs to comprehensively consider the conversion efficiency of solar cells under the influence of solar ground reflection radiation and sky scattering radiation. On the one hand, it is necessary to consider the cost of radar threat, mileage energy consumption, mountain impact and other costs. On the other hand, it is also necessary to consider the influence of high threat, mountain shadow occlusion cost, and cloud shading cost on solar photovoltaic conversion efficiency. The above problem was solved through using the ant colony intelligent optimization algorithm. By constructing ant colony paths rationally, models of mountain impact cost, high threat, mountain shadow shelter cost, and cloud shading cost were established. The constraints such as the maximum action distance, solar irradiation angle and effective action distance of various costs were introduced into the cost model and exploration factor calculation, and the comprehensive optimization problem of solar UAV route was solved. Finally, the simulation results show that the algorithm path structure is reasonable; the target node can be found independently; the convergence speed can meet the requirements of route planning; the generated route cost is small; the algorithm is reasonable and effective.

A parallel particle swarm optimization and enhanced sparrow search algorithm for unmanned aerial vehicle path planning

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) path planning is to plan an optimal path for its flight in a specific environment. But it cannot get satisfactory results using ordinary algorithms. To solve this problem, a hybrid algorithm is proposed named as PESSA, where particle swarm optimization (PSO) and an enhanced sparrow search algorithm (ESSA) work in parallel. In the ESSA, the random jump of the producer's position is strengthened to guarantee the global search ability. Each scrounger keeps learning from the vintage experience of the producers. For the best-positioned sparrow, when it perceives the threat, the difference between the best individual and the worst individual will be imposed to speed up the search process. The elite reverse search strategy was added to yields the optimum diversity. In this paper, the performance of the PESSA algorithm is verified by 10 basic functions, and it can find the optimal value on the 7 test functions. Compared with the other 12 algorithms, PESSA's average value always ranks first. Finally, the proposed PESSA is applied in 4 different scenarios including two groups of 2D environments and two groups of 3D environments. In 2D environments, the average optimization results can reach 0.0165 and 0.0521 in two cases respectively. In 3D environments, the average optimization results can reach 0.6635 and 0.5349 in two cases respectively. The results show that the PESSA algorithm can acquire more feasible and effective route than compared algorithms.

Coverage path planning for spraying drones

The pandemic by COVID-19 is causing a devastating effect on the health of the global population. Currently, there are several efforts to prevent the spread of the virus. Among those efforts, cleaning and disinfecting public areas have become important tasks and they should be automated in future smart cities. To contribute in this direction, this paper proposes a coverage path planning method for a spraying drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle that has mounted a sprayer/sprinkler system, that can disinfect areas. State-of-the-art planners consider a camera instead of a sprinkler, in consequence, the expected coverage will differ in running time because the liquid dispersion is different from a camera's projection model. In addition, current planners assume that the vehicles can fly outside the target region; this assumption can not be satisfied in our problem, because disinfections are performed at low altitudes. Our method presents i) a new sprayer/sprinkler model that fits a more realistic coverage volume to the drop dispersion and ii) a planning method that efficiently restricts the flight to the region of interest avoiding potential collisions in bounded scenes. The algorithm has been tested in several simulation scenes, showing that it is effective and covers more areas with respect to two approaches in the literature. Note that the proposal is not limited to disinfection applications, but can be applied to other ones, such as painting or precision agriculture.