Path Planning for UAV Reconnoitring in Complex Environment Based on Improved Visibility Graph and Genetic Algorithm

In this paper, a path planning method for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) reconnoitering in complex environment has been proposed. Firstly, visibility graph (VGRAPH), which can be solve by Dijkstra Algorithm, is utilized to build the model of the mission environment with several obstacles and multiple reconnaissance points. Then, VGRAPH will be improved based on geometric principles, in order to simplified the complexity of the problem. In addition, Genetic Algorithm (GA) will be used to solve the reconnaissance sequence problem. Finally, two schemes utilizing improved VGRAPH and GA are put forward, one of which is using VGRAPH to get the real distance based on global optimization, the other is using VGRAPH as a path correction base on local optimization. The simulation results show that the improved VGRAPH and the second scheme can solve the problem of path planning in complex environment quickly.