Robotic Coverage for Continuous Mapping Ahead of a Moving Vehicle

In this paper we investigate the problem of using a UAV to provide current map information of the environment in front of a moving ground vehicle. We propose a simple coverage plan called a conformal lawn mower plan that enables a UAV to scan the route ahead of the ground vehicle. The plan requires only limited knowledge of the ground vehicle's future path. For a class of curvature-constrained ground vehicle paths, we show that the proposed plan requires a UAV velocity that is no more than twice the velocity required to cover the optimal plan. We also establish necessary and sufficient UAV velocities, relative to the ground vehicle velocity, required to successfully cover any path in the curvature restricted set. In simulation, we validate the proposed plan, showing that the required velocity to provide coverage is strongly related to the curvature of the ground vehicle's path. Our results also illustrate the relationship between mapping requirements and the relative velocities of the UAV and ground vehicle.