Bayesian network based cooperative area coverage searching for UAVs

Abstract

To resolve the issue of cooperative searching in a given area by a team of heterogeneous UAVs, taking into account their different sensing and range capabilities, based on Bayesian network, this paper contributes a hierarchical structure for cooperative UAVs search mission area decomposition system. A novel multiple UAV cooperative search area decomposition algorithm based on proposed UAV working capability evaluation Bayesian network is also proposed. The ability of coping with uncertainty, which makes this approach notably appealing for real-time implementation, is empirically verified by simulations. The experimental results demonstrate that the presented approach is effective and efficient in the multiple UAVs cooperative search area decomposition problem. © 2012 Springer-Verlag GmbH Berlin Heidelberg.