Efficient algorithms for pursuing moving evaders in terrains

Abstract

In this paper, we propose algorithms for computing optimal trajectories of a group of flying observers (such as helicopters or UAVs) searching for a lost child in a hilly terrain. Very few assumptions are made about the speed or direction of the child's motion and whether it might (either deliberately or accidentally) try to avoid being found. This framework can also be applied to a set of seekers searching for hostile evaders such as smugglers/criminals, or friendly evaders such as lost hikers.Based on the features of the area of the terrain where the pursuit takes place, and the visibility and motion characteristics of the UAVs, we show how to plan their synchronized trajectories in a way that maximizes the likelihood of a successful pursuit, while minimizing their battery or fuel usage, which may, in turn, enable a longer pursuit. Our algorithm explores useful I/O-efficient data structures and branch-cutting (search pruning) techniques to achieve further speedup by limiting the storage requirements and total number of graph nodes searched, respectively.

Sweeping a terrain by collaborative aerial vehicles

“…Our work differs from [12] in several aspects. [12] considered only one version of the problem (the most involved one -unrestricted motion of guards with full cooridnation) while we study different variants (guards moving on straight/arbitrary tracks and guards with/without full coordination capabilities). More importantly, while [12] presented no theoretical results (the paper gave only a heuristic), we significantly advance on the theory frontier by designing and analyzing exact algorithms for our problems.…”

“…Pursuit-Evasion [22] and Lion-and-Man Problems (in polygonal domains, as well as in graphs) study catching of targets whose locations are known to the pursuer(s) [11,9]. The problem of sweeping terrain by a ichain of guards was proposed at the last-year ACM SIGSPATIAL GIS Conference [12]. Our work differs from [12] in several aspects.…”

“…The problem of sweeping terrain by a ichain of guards was proposed at the last-year ACM SIGSPATIAL GIS Conference [12]. Our work differs from [12] in several aspects. [12] considered only one version of the problem (the most involved one -unrestricted motion of guards with full cooridnation) while we study different variants (guards moving on straight/arbitrary tracks and guards with/without full coordination capabilities).…”

“…[12] considered only one version of the problem (the most involved one -unrestricted motion of guards with full cooridnation) while we study different variants (guards moving on straight/arbitrary tracks and guards with/without full coordination capabilities). More importantly, while [12] presented no theoretical results (the paper gave only a heuristic), we significantly advance on the theory frontier by designing and analyzing exact algorithms for our problems. Unlike [12], we focus on (various versions of) feasibility problems, and when we do consider optimization we optimize a different objective (the number of guards vs. the cost of flight for a given number of guards in [12]).…”

Parcel Delivery in an Urban Environment Using Unmanned Aerial Systems: A Vision Paper

“…However, the prospects of deploying UAS have attracted many other domains including, but not limited to, photogrammetry and surveying (Colomina and Molina, 2014), agriculture , environmental monitoring (Ni et al, 2017), entertainment (Quiroz and Kim, 2017), forestry (Casbeer et al, 2005), construction surveillance (Javier Irizarry and Dayana Bastos Costa, 2016), infrastructure protection (Gómez and Green, 2017) and rescue operations (Efrat et al, 2012). These various application domains, coupled with the increasing R&D activities regarding UAS leads to a positive loop of productivity.…”