Inspection Area Allocation for Forest Surveillance Based on Different Starting Points of Multi-UAVs

An inspection allocation algorithm based on different starting points and endurance capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is proposed for the multi-UAVs forest inspection process. Firstly, the area map to be inspected is rasterized, and the distances between the starting points of each UAV and individual grid cells are computed, which will be used for area decomposition. Subsequently, an evaluation function is employed to allocate individual grid cells reasonably to each UAV. Then, the boundary lines of the allocated sub-regions are generated, by which the raster map is converted into an inspection map with continuous boundaries. This ultimately yields the sub-regions for inspection by each UAV. Simulation results demonstrate that this method effectively allocates the forest inspection area to the various UAVs in a rational manner.