Time-Optimal Path Planning With Power Schedules for a Solar-Powered Ground Robot

This paper examines an integrated path planning and power management problem for a solar-powered unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). The proposed method seeks to minimize the travel time of the UGV through an area of known energy density by designing a smooth, heuristically optimized path and allocating...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIEEE transactions on automation science and engineering Vol. 14; no. 2; pp. 1235 - 1244
Main Authors Kaplan, Adam, Kingry, Nathaniel, Uhing, Paul, Ran Dai
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.04.2017
Subjects
Particle swarm optimization (PSO)
Path planning
Power demand
power management
Robots
Schedules
Solar energy
Solar radiation
solar-powered robot
Vehicles
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Summary:This paper examines an integrated path planning and power management problem for a solar-powered unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). The proposed method seeks to minimize the travel time of the UGV through an area of known energy density by designing a smooth, heuristically optimized path and allocating the vehicle's power among its electrical components, while the UGV harvests ambient energy along the designed path to satisfy with the mission's strict energy constraints. A scalar field is first established to evaluate the solar radiation density at discrete locations. A modified particle swarm optimization method is applied to search for a minimal time path wherein the energy gathered is equal to or greater than the energy expended. The proposed modeling and optimization strategy is verified through computer simulation and experimental demonstration.
ISSN:1545-5955
1558-3783
DOI:10.1109/TASE.2016.2533418