On path planning strategies for networked unmanned aerial vehicles

In this paper, we compare deterministic and probabilistic path planning strategies for an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) network, where the objective is to explore a given area with obstacles and provide an overview image. We present both online and offline implementations of the algorithms as alternative solutions, where applicable, and analyze the performance of the offline implementations. Results illustrate the benefits and drawbacks of different planning strategies and provide insight into which strategy should be taken, given the constraints of the application of interest.