A MILP model on coordinated coverage path planning system for UAV-ship hybrid team scheduling software

Shipborne unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are safer and more flexible for maritime missions, but frequent recharging is needed during long-term patrols. A coordinated system for path planning between ships and electric UAVs is necessary for efficient large-area coverage. A two-stage approach is proposed to minimize the makespan overall UAVs’ flight and the move distance overall ships combinationaly. First, the target space is trangularized corresponding to the UAV camera field of view for generating air waypoints. Second, a MILP model is designed to connect suitable air waypoints for UAVs and marine waypoints for ship(s) to form the optimal path for them coordinating the requirements of the area coverage and the UAV recharging. The simulation experiments show the proposed model works for the scenario of either the static or the dynamic motherships in a unified way. In the static mode, the vessels are not migrated and the number of vessels and ship calling points required is the same. In the dynamic model, the ship can be repositioned to recover and recharge the drone, and the task can be accomplished simply by repositioning the ship between waypoints. Dynamic models have better interaction patterns than static models.