Collaborative Visual Area Coverage using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
For multi-UAV surveillance applications, this work provides a distributed control method for optimizing coverage and image quality, though it is an incremental extension of existing coverage control approaches.
The paper addresses visual area coverage by a team of UAVs, proposing a distributed control algorithm that adjusts UAV altitudes to maximize a combined coverage-quality criterion. Simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the scheme.
This article addresses the visual area coverage problem using a team of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The UAVs are assumed to be equipped with a downward facing camera covering all points of interest within a circle on the ground. The diameter of this circular conic-section increases as the UAV flies at a larger height, yet the quality of the observed area is inverse proportional to the UAV's height. The objective is to provide a distributed control algorithm that maximizes a combined coverage-quality criterion by adjusting the UAV's altitude. Simulation studies are offered to highlight the effectiveness of the suggested scheme.