scholarly journals Dynamic Optimization and Heuristics Based Online Coverage Path Planning in 3D Environment for UAVs

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1108
Author(s):  
Aurelio G. Melo ◽  
Milena F. Pinto ◽  
Andre L. M. Marcato ◽  
Leonardo M. Honório ◽  
Fabrício O. Coelho
Keyword(s):  
Path Planning ◽  
Autonomous Navigation ◽  
Linear Optimization ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
Optimization Methods ◽  
Coverage Path Planning ◽  
3D Environment ◽  
Aerospace Technology ◽  
Dynamic Decisions ◽  
Distributed Execution

Path planning is one of the most important issues in the robotics field, being applied in many domains ranging from aerospace technology and military tasks to manufacturing and agriculture. Path planning is a branch of autonomous navigation. In autonomous navigation, dynamic decisions about the path have to be taken while the robot moves towards its goal. Among the navigation area, an important class of problems is Coverage Path Planning (CPP). The CPP technique is associated with determining a collision-free path that passes through all viewpoints in a specific area. This paper presents a method to perform CPP in 3D environment for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) applications, namely 3D dynamic for CPP applications (3DD-CPP). The proposed method can be deployed in an unknown environment through a combination of linear optimization and heuristics. A model to estimate cost matrices accounting for UAV power usage is proposed and evaluated for a few different flight speeds. As linear optimization methods can be computationally demanding to be used on-board a UAV, this work also proposes a distributed execution of the algorithm through fog-edge computing. Results showed that 3DD-CPP had a good performance in both local execution and fog-edge for different simulated scenarios. The proposed heuristic is capable of re-optimization, enabling execution in environments with local knowledge of the environments.

scholarly journals Coverage path planning for a flock of aerial vehicles to support autonomous rovers through traversability analysis

ACTA IMEKO ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario Calogero Guastella ◽  
Luciano Cantelli ◽  
Domenico Longo ◽  
Carmelo Donato Melita ◽  
Giovanni Muscato
Keyword(s):  
Path Planning ◽  
Autonomous Navigation ◽  
Complete Solution ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Aerial Imagery ◽  
Unmanned Ground Vehicle ◽  
Ground Vehicles ◽  
Ground Vehicle ◽  
Coverage Path Planning ◽  
Definition Of

In rough terrains, such as landslides or volcanic eruptions, it is extremely complex to plan safe trajectories for an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV), since both robot stability and path execution feasibility must be guaranteed. In this paper, we present a complete solution for the autonomous navigation of ground vehicles in the mentioned scenarios. The proposed solution integrates three different aspects. The first is the coverage path planning for the definition of UAV trajectories for aerial imagery acquisition. The collected images are used for the photogrammetric reconstruction of the considered area. The second aspect is the adoption of a flock of UAVs to implement the coverage in a parallel way. In fact, when non-coverable zones are present, decomposition of the whole area to survey is performed. A solution to assign the different regions among the flying vehicles composing the team is presented. The last aspect is the path planning of the ground vehicle by means of a traversability analysis performed on the terrain 3D model. The computed paths are optimal in terms of the difficulty of moving across the rough terrain. The results of each step within the overall approach are shown.

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

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1525
Author(s):  
Gang Tang ◽  
Congqiang Tang ◽  
Hao Zhou ◽  
Christophe Claramunt ◽  
Shaoyang Men
Keyword(s):  
Path Planning ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Simulation Experiments ◽  
Minimum Width ◽  
Coverage Path Planning ◽  
Optimal Paths ◽  
Planning Approach ◽  
Polygonal Area ◽  
Aerial Vehicle ◽  
Working Distance

Most Coverage Path Planning (CPP) strategies based on the minimum width of a concave polygonal area are very likely to generate non-optimal paths with many turns. This paper introduces a CPP method based on a Region Optimal Decomposition (ROD) that overcomes this limitation when applied to the path planning of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in a port environment. The principle of the approach is to first apply a ROD to a Google Earth image of a port and combining the resulting sub-regions by an improved Depth-First-Search (DFS) algorithm. Finally, a genetic algorithm determines the traversal order of all sub-regions. The simulation experiments show that the combination of ROD and improved DFS algorithm can reduce the number of turns by 4.34%, increase the coverage rate by more than 10%, and shorten the non-working distance by about 29.91%. Overall, the whole approach provides a sound solution for the CPP and operations of UAVs in port environments.

Coverage Path Planning with Proximal Policy Optimization in a Grid-based Environment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandr Ianenko ◽  
Alexander Artamonov ◽  
Georgii Sarapulov ◽  
Alexey Safaraleev ◽  
Sergey Bogomolov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Path Planning ◽  
Coverage Path Planning ◽  
Policy Optimization ◽  
Grid Based

scholarly journals COLREG-Compliant Optimal Path Planning for Real-Time Guidance and Control of Autonomous Ships

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 405
Author(s):  
Raphael Zaccone
Keyword(s):  
Path Planning ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Collision Avoidance ◽  
Autonomous Navigation ◽  
Optimal Path ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Optimal Path Planning ◽  
Guidance And Control ◽  
Real Time Applications ◽  
And Control

While collisions and groundings still represent the most important source of accidents involving ships, autonomous vessels are a central topic in current research. When dealing with autonomous ships, collision avoidance and compliance with COLREG regulations are major vital points. However, most state-of-the-art literature focuses on offline path optimisation while neglecting many crucial aspects of dealing with real-time applications on vessels. In the framework of the proposed motion-planning, navigation and control architecture, this paper mainly focused on optimal path planning for marine vessels in the perspective of real-time applications. An RRT*-based optimal path-planning algorithm was proposed, and collision avoidance, compliance with COLREG regulations, path feasibility and optimality were discussed in detail. The proposed approach was then implemented and integrated with a guidance and control system. Tests on a high-fidelity simulation platform were carried out to assess the potential benefits brought to autonomous navigation. The tests featured real-time simulation, restricted and open-water navigation and dynamic scenarios with both moving and fixed obstacles.

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