Formulation and a MOGA based approach for multi-UAV cooperative reconnaissance

Abstract

Multi-UAV cooperative reconnaissance is one of the most challenging research area for UAV operations. The objective is to coordinate different kinds of sensor-bearing UAVs conducting reconnaissance on a set of targets within predefined time windows at minimum cost, while satisfying the reconnaissance demands, and without violating the maximum permitted travel time for each UAV. This paper presents a multi-objective optimization mathematical formulation for the problem. Different from previous formulations, the model takes the reconnaissance resolution demands of the targets and time window constraints into account. Then a multi-objective genetic algorithm CR-MOGA is put forward to solve the problem. In CR-MOGA, Pareto optimality based selection is introduced to generate the parent individuals. Novel evolutionary operators are designed according to the specifics of the problem. Finally the simulation results show the efficiency of our algorithm. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.