On Multiple UAV Routing with Stochastic Targets: Performance Bounds and Algorithms

In this paper we consider the following problem. A number of Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), modeled as vehicles moving at constant speed along paths of bounded curvature, must visit stochastically-generated targets in a convex, compact region of the plane. Targets are generated according to a spatio-temporal Poisson process, uniformly in the region. It is desired to minimize the expected waiting time between the appear-ance of a target, and the time it is visited. We present partially centralized algorithms for UAV routing, assigning regions of responsibility to each vehicle, and compare their performance with respect to asymptotic performance bounds, in the light and heavy load limits. Simulation results are presented and discussed. I.