Petri Nets and Linear Program for Cyclic Schedules in UAV and Charging Station Systems: An Example

Limited flight durations bind UAV systems to short term operations. With the aid of support stations to replenish consumables and schedules to orchestrate resources, persistent missions can be pursued. In this paper, we illustrate a scheduling framework for operation and replenishment via example. We focus on developing a Petri net model that explicitly considers resource pairs for VAV systems with battery recharge platforms to maintain a persistent UAV presence. We refine results on required resources, introduce a sequential resource selection rule, and develop an extended Petri net model for periodic behavior. We develop a linear program (LP) reflecting the Petri net structure to generate detailed resource schedules, providing further insights into system behavior.