IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine | 2021
Search Planning of a UAV/UGV Team With Localization Uncertainty in a Subterranean Environment
Abstract
A waypoint planning algorithm for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is presented that is teamed with an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) for the task of search and rescue in a subterranean environment. The UAV and UGV are teamed such that the localization of the UAV is conducted on the UGV via the multisensor fusion of a fisheye camera, 3-D light detection and ranging, ranging radio, and a laser altimeter. Likewise, the trajectory planning of the UAV is conducted on the UGV, which is assumed to have a 3-D map of the environment (e.g., from simultaneous localization and mapping). The goal of the planning algorithm is to satisfy the mission s exploration criteria while reducing the localization error of the UAV by evaluating the belief space for potential exploration routes. The presented algorithm is evaluated in a relevant simulation environment where the planning algorithm is shown to be effective at reducing the localization errors of the UAV.