UAV Path Planning for Reconnaissance and Look-Ahead Coverage Support for Mobile Ground Vehicles

Path planning of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for reconnaissance and look-ahead coverage support for mobile ground vehicles (MGVs) is a challenging task due to many unknowns being imposed by the MGVs’ variable velocity profiles, change in heading, and structural differences between the ground and air environments. Few path planning techniques have been reported in the literature for multirotor UAVs that autonomously follow and support MGVs in reconnaissance missions. These techniques formulate the path planning problem as a tracking problem utilizing gimbal sensors to overcome the coverage and reconnaissance complexities. Despite their lack of considering additional objectives such as reconnaissance coverage and dynamic environments, they retain several drawbacks, including high computational requirements, hardware dependency, and low performance when the MGV has varying velocities. In this study, a novel 3D path planning technique for multirotor UAVs is presented, the enhanced dynamic artificial potential field (ED-APF), where path planning is formulated as both a follow and cover problem with nongimbal sensors. The proposed technique adopts a vertical sinusoidal path for the UAV that adapts relative to the MGV’s position and velocity, guided by the MGV’s heading for reconnaissance and exploration of areas and routes ahead beyond the MGV sensors’ range, thus extending the MGV’s reconnaissance capabilities. The amplitude and frequency of the sinusoidal path are determined to maximize the required look-ahead visual coverage quality in terms of pixel density and quantity pertaining to the area covered. The ED-APF was tested and validated against the general artificial potential field techniques for various simulation scenarios using Robot Operating System (ROS) and Gazebo-supported PX4-SITL. It demonstrated superior performance and showed its suitability for reconnaissance and look-ahead support to MGVs in dynamic and obstacle-populated environments.