USMV Coverage Path Planning With Multi-Level Grid Search
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coverage-path planning algorithms for unmanned surface mapping vessels (USMVs) face challenges in efficiency and robustness due to the complex nature of marine environments, limiting their endurance and operational effectiveness in surveying tasks.
Innovation Solution
A coverage-path planning method for a single USMV that involves rasterizing an environmental map into multiple levels, assigning grid values and status, and using an Improved Bi-directional A* (IBA*) algorithm to optimize path planning, incorporating potential energy coefficients and priority areas to navigate around obstacles efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional coverage-path planning algorithms are used for USMV, then the vessel can perform surveying tasks, but the operational efficiency and endurance are limited due to complex marine environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the continuous path planning problem into discrete grid-based segments at multiple levels. The environmental map is segmented into grids, and the path planning is segmented into multiple levels (BL0 to BLL) where each level represents a different scale of search. This segmentation allows the algorithm to efficiently handle complex marine environments by breaking down the large search space into manageable portions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a multi-level dimensional structure to the path planning algorithm. Instead of searching in a single flat space, the algorithm creates multiple levels (BL0, BL1, ..., BLL) where each level is a scaled version of the environmental map. This dimensional transformation allows the algorithm to switch between different scales of search, improving both efficiency and robustness when navigating complex marine environments.
2Productivity
If multi-USV collaborative scanning is used, then the efficiency of area coverage operation is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent develops a universal path planning algorithm that can be applied to both single-USV and multi-USV scenarios. The IBA* algorithm provides a common framework that handles path planning, obstacle avoidance, and coverage optimization in a unified manner. This universality allows multiple USVs to operate collaboratively without requiring separate complex control systems for each vessel, thereby improving area coverage efficiency while managing system complexity.
3Loss of time
If the environmental map is divided into multiple levels, then the path planning efficiency is improved, but the computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-dividing the environmental map into multiple levels (BL0 to BLL) before actual path planning begins. Each level is pre-processed and stored, allowing the algorithm to quickly select appropriate search spaces during operation. This preliminary structuring reduces real-time computational requirements and path planning time, while the algorithmic complexity is managed through systematic level-based search strategies.
Data Source
AI summary
An optimized coverage-path planning method for a single unmanned surface mapping vessel (USMV) is implemented with a system including a computer processor executing a computer program loaded in a storage device and implanting the method. The method includes rasterizing and initializing an environmental map, and an unmanned vessel outputting position data and obstacle data according to the environmental map so that path planning is started to provide a target point to the unmanned vessel. In case of tripping in a local optimum at a current-level map for the target point, the map level is updated in an ascending order until the highest level, in order to identify a map level in which the target point is found.