This article investigates the path planning strategy of a swarm of unmanned airborne vehicles (UAVs) with the aim of guaranteeing the communication relay between a ground control station and a friendly fleet. A decision-making algorithm mainly relies on waypoint generations and path planning based on Dubins theory and deals with dynamic and strategic constraints such as maximum speed, minimum curvature radius, and no fly zones arising from the mission operative scenario. The example simulations concerning a baseline scenario with a swarm of three UAVs are done to verify the feasibility of the proposed path planning algorithm.
CerasoliC.An analysis of unmanned airborne vehicle relay coverage in urban environments. In Proceedings of the MILCOM, Orlando, Florida, 2007.
2.
PinkneyM. F. J.HampelD.DiPierroS.Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communications relay. In Proceedings of the IEEE Military Communications Conference, MILCOM'96, McLean, Virginia, 1996.
3.
GoerzenC.KongZ.MettlerB.A survey of motion planning algorithms from the perspective of autonomous UAV guidance. J. Intell. Robot Syst.2010, 57, 65–100.
4.
ChosetH.BurdickJ.Sensor-based exploration: The hierarchical generalized Voronoi graph. Int. J. Robot. Res.2000, 19(2), 96–125.
5.
VandapelN.KuffnerJ.AmidiO.Planning 3-d path networks in unstructured environments. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and automation, Barcelona, Spain, 2005, pp. 4624–4629.
6.
FergusonD.LikhachevM.StentzA.A guide to heuristic-based path planning. In Proceedings of the ICAPS Workshop on Planning under uncertainty for autonomous systems, Monterey, California, AAAI, 2005.
7.
ConnollyC. I.BurnsJ. B.WeissR.Path planning using laplace's equation. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and automation, Orlando, Florida, 1990, pp. 2102–2106.
8.
BohlinR.KavrakiL. E.Path planning using lazy PRM. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and automation, San Francisco, California, 2000, pp. 521–528.
9.
SchouwenaarsT.StubbsA.PaduanoJ.FeronE.Multivehicle path planning for nonline-of-sight communication. J. Field Robot.2006, 23(3), 269–290.
10.
BurdakovaO.DohertybP.HolmbergaK.KvarnstrmbJ.OlssonbP. M.Positioning unmanned aerial vehicles as communication relays for surveillance tasks. In Proceedings of the Robotics: Science and Systems Conference, Seattle, Washington, June 2009.
11.
ShanmugavelM.TsourdosA.BikowskiR.WhiteB. A.3D dubins sets based coordinated path planning for swarm of UAVs. In Proceedings of the AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference and Exhibit, Keystone, Colorado, 2006.
12.
ShanmugavelM.TsourdosA.WhiteB. A.BikowskiR.Differential geometric path planning of multiple UAVs. J. Dyn. Syst. Meas. Control2007, 129, 620–632.
13.
ShanmugavelM.TsourdosA.WhiteB. A.BikowskiR.Co-operative path planning of multiple UAVs using dubins paths with clothoid arcs. Control Eng. Pract.2009 (in press).
DubinsL. E.On curves of minimal length with a constraint on average curvature, and with prescribed initial and terminal positions and tangents. Am. J. Math.1957, 79(3), 497–516.
