Integrated Path Planning - Collision Avoidance System for UAVs Operating In Obstacle Rich Environment

摘要

The problem of finding a collision free path for multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, in an obstacle rich environment is addressed in this paper. A two step procedure for generating a collision free path is proposed. Such a path satisfying a certain optimal criteria is found within a small time interval using a modified hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Artificial Potential Field (APF) methods. Further a worst case scenario is generated in which the number of obstacles in the environment is very high and it is found that as the comparative time required to compute the collision free path is less, the collision becomes unavoidable. Next, an integrated collision avoidance system is included, which then re-defines the colliding way-points in such a manner that we get a collision free path. Simulation results show that the two step procedure proposed in this paper is capable of generating a collision free path in high density obstacle environment.