In UAV autonomous exploration, large frontier clusters are commonly associated with high information gain and are visited first. In contrast, small and isolated frontier clusters with fewer frontiers are associated with smaller information gain and are thus explored with low priority. However, these small and isolated frontier clusters are often in close proximity to UAVs and surrounded by explored areas, which could result in back-and-forth flights that lower exploration efficiency. This paper proposes LAEA, a LiDAR-assisted and depth camera-dominated UAV exploration algorithm that aims to improve UAV autonomous exploration efficiency. A hybrid map is obtained that characterizes rich environmental profile information in real time, enabling us to detect small and isolated frontier clusters that can lead to repeated visits to explored areas. An environmental information gain optimization strategy is incorporated such that frontier clusters with larger unexplored areas behind them, as well as small and isolated frontier clusters close to the UAV, are assigned higher weights to prioritize their visit order. An optimized flight trajectory is generated to cover unexplored frontier clusters in the immediate vicinity of the UAV while flying to the next target. A comprehensive comparison between the proposed algorithm and state-of-the-art algorithms was conducted via a simulation study, which showed that our algorithm exhibits superior exploration efficiency in various environments. Experiments were also carried out to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach in real-world scenarios.


    Zugriff

    Download


    Exportieren, teilen und zitieren



    Titel :

    LAEA: A 2D LiDAR-Assisted UAV Exploration Algorithm for Unknown Environments


    Beteiligte:
    Xiaolei Hou (Autor:in) / Zheng Pan (Autor:in) / Li Lu (Autor:in) / Yuhang Wu (Autor:in) / Jinwen Hu (Autor:in) / Yang Lyu (Autor:in) / Chunhui Zhao (Autor:in)


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    2024




    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)


    Format :

    Elektronische Ressource


    Sprache :

    Unbekannt




    Robotic planetary exploration : autonomous navigation in cluttered unknown environments

    Torres, Alejandro / Maurette, Michel / Moreno, Sabine et al. | AIAA | 2012


    Adapting Control Methods for Autonomous Exploration of Unknown Environments

    Mutz, D. / Chein, S. / Engelhardt, B. | NTRS | 2000


    Robotic Planetary Exploration : Autonomous Navigation in Cluttered Unknown Environments

    Torres, A. / Maurette, M. / Moreno, S. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2012


    Deep Reinforcement Learning for Adaptive Exploration of Unknown Environments

    Peake, Ashley / McCalmon, Joe / Zhang, Yixin et al. | IEEE | 2021


    Autonomous Exploration In Unknown Urban Environments For Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

    Shim, David / Chung, Hoam / Kim, Hyoun Jin et al. | AIAA | 2005