Coverage Path Planning Method for Agricultural Spraying UAV in Arbitrary Polygon Area

In the coverage path planning (CPP) problem of an agricultural spraying UAV, a margin reduction algorithm was designed first to address special situations such as ditches and channels within the operational terrain. Regarding the particularity of a concave polygon area, an algorithm based on topology mapping was developed to judge the concave points of the concave polygon area, and the path with special concave points was scheduled. For the evaluation of the pesticide spraying mission, the flight distance and extra coverage ratio were the most appropriate optimization objectives. Therefore, this paper selected these two indicators to form a fitness function, then found the optimal operating heading angle of the mission after iterative optimization. Finally, the CPP for an agricultural spraying UAV in an arbitrary polygon area under the optimal heading angle was realized. The simulation and flight test results showed that the CPP method could significantly shorten the flight distance and reduce additional coverage, then avoid energy consumption and pesticide waste. In addition, the engineering practicability of the method was verified in this paper. This method can be popularized and widely used for an agricultural spraying UAV, which has great engineering application value.

Automated summary

This paper addresses the coverage path planning problem of an agricultural spraying UAV by proposing a margin reduction algorithm and a topology mapping algorithm. The optimal operating heading angle is found through iterative optimization. Simulation and flight test results demonstrate that the method can significantly reduce flight distance, minimize additional coverage, and avoid energy consumption and pesticide waste.