UAV Path Planning for Structure Inspection in Windy Environments

In this paper, we consider the structure inspection problem using a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The influence of the wind on the UAV behavior and onboard energy limitations are important parameters that must be taken into account in the structure inspection problem. To tackle these problems, we derive three methods to inspect a structure. First, we develop a Zermelo-Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) method to compute the optimal route to inspect a simple virtual structure. Second, we derive a method that combines meshing techniques with the Zermelo-TSP method. In this approach, the inspection coordinates for the interest points are obtained automatically by means of a meshing algorithm, then, the Zermelo-TSP method is used to compute the time-optimal route to inspect all the interest points in minimal time. Finally, we derive a method for structure inspection based on the Zermelo-Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP). These methods have been validated in a simulated environment.