Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-assisted unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) systems design, implementation and optimization

In this paper, we report our recent work on developing a testbed for the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-assisted unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) system. In sharp contrast to most UGV models in the literature, our system does not require Global Positioning System (GPS) by taking full advantage of the latest technological breakthroughs in UAV. By exploiting the wide-angle camera mounted on the UAV, the system can collect detailed ground information including UGV and destination positions before the UAV sends steering and speed update instructions to the UGV via wireless communications. To optimize the route design from UGV to its destination, we develop various route optimization algorithms by taking into account the position of the anticipated next destination using a probabilistic model. Experimental and computer simulation results confirm the validity of our testbed design and route optimization algorithms.