0000000000888467
AUTHOR
James F. Campbell
Solving the length constrained K-drones rural postman problem
[EN] In this paper we address the Length Constrained K-Drones Rural Postman Problem (LC K-DRPP). This is a continuous optimization problem where a fleet of homogeneous drones have to jointly service (traverse) a set of (curved or straight) lines of a network. Unlike the vehicles in classical arc routing problems, a drone can enter a line through any of its points, service a portion of that line, exit through another of its points, then travel directly to any point on another line, and so on. Moreover, since the range of the drones is restricted, the length of each route is limited by a maximum distance. Some applications for drone arc routing problems include inspection of pipelines, railwa…
Drone arc routing problems
[EN] In this article, we present some drone arc routing problems (Drone ARPs) and study their relation with well-known postman ARPs. Applications for Drone ARPs include traffic monitoring by flying over roadways, infrastructure inspection such as by flying along power transmission lines, pipelines or fences, and surveillance along linear features such as coastlines or territorial borders. Unlike the postmen in traditional ARPs, drones can travel directly between any two points in the plane without following the edges of the network. As a consequence, a drone route may service only part of an edge, with multiple routes being used to cover the entire edge. Thus the Drone ARPs are continuous o…