Windy Drone Coverage Path Planning with variable heights
This study presents a second-order cone mixed-integer programming formulation for a monitoring system using a single drone. The goal is to cover a set of non-overlapping polygonal areas, starting and ending at a depot, while respecting the drone's limited endurance.
Key features of the formulation include:
Altitude Selection: The drone chooses from specific altitudes per area based on the required inspection precision.
Exit Points: Each area has a limited set of points where the drone can pause monitoring to move to another location.
Energy Management: When reaching minimum energy, the drone returns to the depot for a battery swap before continuing until all areas are covered.
Optimization: The model focuses on minimizing the total completion time.
Preliminary computational results using artificial instances are presented, along with an analysis of the resulting solutions.
Palabras clave: Monitoring system Mixed-Integer Quadratic Programming UAVs