UGV Coverage Path Planning: An Energy-Efficient Approach through Turn Reduction

Abstract

With the advent and rapid growth of automation, unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) have emerged as a crucial technology, with applications spanning various domains, from agriculture to surveillance, logistics, and military operations. Alongside this surge in the utilization of robotics, novel complications inevitably emerge, posing intriguing questions and challenges to the academic and technological sectors. One such pressing challenge is the coverage path planning (CPP) problem, particularly the notion of optimizing UGV energy utilization during path planning, a significant yet relatively unexplored aspect within the research landscape. While numerous studies have proposed solutions to CPP with a single UGV, the introduction of multiple UGVs within a single environment reveals a unique set of challenges. A paramount concern in multi-UGV CPP is the effective allocation and division of the area among the UGVs. To address this issue, we propose an innovative approach that first segments the area into multiple subareas, which are then allocated to individual UGVs. Our methodology employs fine-tuned spanning trees to minimize the number of turns during navigation, resulting in more efficient and energy-aware coverage paths. As opposed to existing research focusing on models that allocate without optimization, our model utilizes a terrain-aware cost function, and an adaptive path replanning module, leading to a more flexible, effective, and energy-efficient path-planning solution. A series of simulations demonstrated the robustness and efficacy of our approach, highlighting its potential to significantly improve UGV endurance and mission effectiveness, even in challenging terrain conditions. The proposed solution provides a substantial contribution to the field of UGV path planning, addressing a crucial gap and enhancing the body of knowledge surrounding energy-efficient CPP for multi-UGV scenarios.