A Simplified Path Planning Algorithm for Surveillance Missions of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles*

Abstract

In this paper, a path planning algorithm is proposed for surveillance missions that does not only require visiting certain known specified regions, but also explores these regions. We set the motion model of the vehicle to a planar kinematic model with bounded steering rate, and we impose the region exploration as traversing an arc with a nonzero arc-length around a point. Using the above two assumptions, we define a time-optimal control problem to ensure completely visiting and exploring all of the sites. Similar to the literature, the problem is formulated as a Dubin Traveling Salesman Problem with Neighborhoods to derive a simplified algorithm, however, this paper builds on previous work done on the convex optimization solution to derive a geometrical representation of the local minima for path headings. Hence, solving for the optimal Dubin’s maneuver corresponding to the global shortest path.