Time-Optimal UAV Trajectory Planning for LoS Communication or Video Surveillance over an Uneven Terrain

The paper addresses the problem of time-efficient UAV path planning for establishing Line-of-Sight connections with a number of ground locations for various communication or video surveillance tasks. The main feature of the considered problem is that the UAV is flying over an uneven terrain where the Line-of-Sight is often occluded by hills, mountains or tall buildings. A time-optimal UAV path planning algorithm is developed and compared with two other advanced methods.