Safe flyable and energy efficient UAV missions via biologically inspired methods

Summarization: In this article the offline Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) path planning problem is addressed for real environments whilst enhancing energy requirements. In particular, a two-step procedure is adopted for the determination of the energy efficient safe flyable path that satisfies a-priori defined criteria. By the former step, via principles of mechanics, safe flyable candidate paths are designed meeting functional/physical limitations of the aerial vehicle. By the latter step, those paths are fed in the Genetic Algorithm (GA) setup, and the best path that fulfils mission's objectives and satisfies constraints is determined. The efficacy of the approach is shown via simulation examples, where a UAV is deployed to safely navigate with the least energy demand in an a priori known environment whilst meeting mission objectives.Παρουσιάστηκε στο: 2020 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft System