6533b85afe1ef96bd12b922d

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Coverage path planning based on waypoint optimization, with evolutionary algorithms.

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The goal of this paper is to optimize the coverage of a vast and complexarea such that its mosaic image can be created. To find the best waypoints, twomethods have been investigated: Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and GeneticAlgorithms (GA). Our investigation proved that GA is a better method due toits performance and adaptability. After having performed experiments to compare the algorithms, a hybridization of GA and PSO is investigated.The proposed method can be applied on large areas with irregular shapes, such as agricultural fields, and it provides a minimized number of waypoints that must be flown over by the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The experiments were made to simulate the flight of the UAV in an indoor environment, and the images generated during the simulated flight have been used to show the final mosaic. The proposed method is also applied in the vast outdoor area using satellite images to visualize the final result of the coverage path planning. The experiments validate the efficiency of the proposed method for finding the number and the poses of the waypoints. The solution proposed to approach the problem of coverage path planning is rather different than the stateof the art by dividing the Coverage Path Planning on independent sub-problems to optimize and then using GA and later on GAPSO.