Adaptive multi-vehicle area coverage optimization system and method
First Claim
1. A mission planning system for determining an optimum use of a plurality of vehicles in searching a predefined geographic area, said system comprising:
- a discretizer subsystem including hardware and software components, configured to use sensing capabilities of each said vehicle to produce a point set defining a number of points within the predefined geographic area that said vehicles must traverse to completely search the predefined geographic area, the number of points taking into consideration a topography of the predefined geographic area and weather conditions affecting visibility in the predefined geographic area during the searching, and coordinates of areas of impeded visibility within the predefined geographic area;
a task allocator subsystem including a second hardware component and a second software component running on the second hardware component, configured to determine an optimum division of the predefined geographic area into different subregions to be handled by specific ones of said vehicles based on the point sets produced by said discretizer subsystem, to minimize an overall time needed to search the predefined geographic area region by said vehicles;
a path optimizer subsystem including hardware and software components, for determining an optimum path, for each one of said vehicles through a particular subregion determined by said task allocator subsystem to be handled by said one of said vehicles to minimize the time needed to traverse said particular subregion; and
an arbitrator subsystem that determines needed changes to the subregions to be handled by each of said vehicles based upon changes to both an operational status of each said vehicle and changing environmental conditions within said predefined geographic area.
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Abstract
A mission planning system for determining an optimum use of a plurality of vehicles in searching a predefined geographic area (PGA). A discretizer subsystem may be used for sensing the capabilities of each vehicle to produce a point set defining a number of points within the PGA that the vehicles must traverse to completely search the PGA. A task allocator subsystem may determine an optimum division of the PGA into different subregions to be handled by specific ones of the vehicles, thus to minimize an overall time needed to search the PGA. A path optimizer subsystem may determine an optimum path through a particular vehicle'"'"'s assigned subregion to minimize the time needed for each specific vehicle to traverse its associated subregion.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A mission planning system for determining an optimum use of a plurality of vehicles in searching a predefined geographic area, said system comprising:
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a discretizer subsystem including hardware and software components, configured to use sensing capabilities of each said vehicle to produce a point set defining a number of points within the predefined geographic area that said vehicles must traverse to completely search the predefined geographic area, the number of points taking into consideration a topography of the predefined geographic area and weather conditions affecting visibility in the predefined geographic area during the searching, and coordinates of areas of impeded visibility within the predefined geographic area; a task allocator subsystem including a second hardware component and a second software component running on the second hardware component, configured to determine an optimum division of the predefined geographic area into different subregions to be handled by specific ones of said vehicles based on the point sets produced by said discretizer subsystem, to minimize an overall time needed to search the predefined geographic area region by said vehicles; a path optimizer subsystem including hardware and software components, for determining an optimum path, for each one of said vehicles through a particular subregion determined by said task allocator subsystem to be handled by said one of said vehicles to minimize the time needed to traverse said particular subregion; and an arbitrator subsystem that determines needed changes to the subregions to be handled by each of said vehicles based upon changes to both an operational status of each said vehicle and changing environmental conditions within said predefined geographic area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A mission planning system for determining an optimum use of a plurality of vehicles in searching a predefined geographic area, said system comprising:
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a discretizer subsystem including hardware and software components, for that defines a number of points within said predefined geographic area that said vehicles must traverse to completely search the predefined geographic area, taking into consideration weather conditions affecting visibility in the predefined geographic area during searching performed by said vehicles; a task allocator subsystem including hardware and second softwares, for determining an optimum division of said predefined geographic area into different subregions to be handled by specific ones of said vehicles, using an iterative process; a path optimizer subsystem including hardware and software components, for determining a path through a particular vehicle'"'"'s assigned said subregion that minimizes a search time required for the vehicle to search its associated said subregion; and an arbitrator subsystem, including hardware and software components, that determines needed changes to searching responsibilities of each of said vehicles, based upon changes to an operational status of each of the vehicles and changing environmental conditions in the predefined geographic area. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A mission planning system for determining an optimum use of a plurality of vehicles in searching a predefined geographic area, said system comprising:
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a discretizer subsystem, including hardware and software components, configured to use for using sensing capabilities of each said vehicle to produce a point set defining a number of points within said predefined geographic area that said vehicles must traverse to completely search the predefined geographic area, taking into account weather conditions affecting visibility within the predefined geographic area that affect the sensing capabilities of each said vehicle; a path optimizer subsystem, including hardware and software components, for determining an optimum path through a particular one of a plurality of subregions of the predefined geographic area by a particular one of said vehicles, and in a manner that minimizes a time needed for each said specific vehicle to traverse its associated said subregion; and an arbitrator subsystem that determines needed changes to searching responsibilities of each of said vehicles, based upon changes to an operational status of each said vehicle and changing environmental conditions within the predefined geographic area. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification