BS-HOP: A Collaborative Exploration Approach for Power-Switchable Air-Ground Robots under Multiple Map Structures*
Deen Bai, Zhipeng Zhang, Zhiwei Li, Hongwei Tang, Chaoquan Tang · 2025
How to utilize open-ground robots to achieve efficient exploration of underground space has been one of the challenges in robotic exploration. However, there is a large gap between existing research, which generally treats robots as infinite endurance, and practical applications. In this paper, we propose a power-swapping-based, comprehensive hybrid optimal path collaborative exploration method, which calculates the optimal paths of the open-ground robots in the currently explored area, selects a more optimal current traveling points, while avoiding local optimal solutions. In addition, for the multiple physical constraints in the underground space of air-ground robots, i.e., the speed difference between air and ground robots, the endurance time difference, and the endurance increment of ground robots to air robots, the advantages over the combination of multiple air robots and multiple ground robots are analyzed. The relationship between map size, complexity, and the exploration efficiency of different combinations of (air-air, air-ground, and ground-ground) robots is also discussed. Finally, simulations and experiments prove that: at finite endurance, the exploration method proposed in this paper is able to achieve a larger area and maintains a high exploration efficiency despite the loss of efficiency.