Movable Unmanned Aerial System: Optimization of System, Resource Design and Drone Routing

摘要

One of the strengths of drone is the mobility. Drone can fly without avoiding obstacles and provide services in a timely manner. However ironically, the mobility of drone cannot last for long duration due to the low battery capacity and limited loadable products. As a consequence, the use of drones may be extremely limited in a wide field of operation. One of the solutions for complementing such weaknesses of drone is the use of movable stations. Stations move across a wide field of operation and replenish consumables for drones, such as battery and service product. By visiting movable stations and replenishing consumables, drones can provide persistent service in a wide range of operation area. In this study, design and operation issues of movable unmanned aerial system (MUAS) are address for long term and persistent drone service. A two-phase optimization approach is developed to efficiently handle the system complexity. In the phase I, locations of movable stations and allocation of tasks are identified for multi-period of service duration. In the phase II, number of drones for each station and their routings are optimized based on the result of phase I. Mathematical models are proposed and verified with a case study.