Algorithms for the connectivity constrained unmanned ground vehicle surveillance problem

• The Connectivity Constrained UGV Surveillance Problem (CUSP) considered in this paper is the following. Given a set of surveillance UGVs and a user defined area to be covered, find waypoint-paths such that; 1) the area is completely surveyed, 2) the time for performing the search is minimized and 3) the induced information graph is kept recurrently connected. It has previously been shown that the CUSP is NP-hard. This paper presents four different heuristic algorithms for solving the CUSP, namely, the Token Station Algorithm, the Stacking Algorithm, the Visibility Graph Algorithm and the Connectivity Primitive Algorithm. These algorithms are then compared by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The conclusions drawn are that the Token Station Algorithm provides the most optimal solutions, the Stacking Algorithm has the lowest computational complexity, while the Connectivity Primitive Algorithm provides the best trade-off between optimality and computational complexity for larger problem instances.

Keyword

Cooperative control

Optimization algorithms

Autonomous systems

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