Swarm-based Cooperative Coverage Strategy for Amphibious Unmanned Systems in Complex Wetland Environments
Yuhang He, Liao Bo, Qi Dang · IFAC-PapersOnLine · 2025
This study investigates the effectiveness of amphibious unmanned aerial vehicles (Amphi-UAVs) in complex wetland inspections, emphasizing coverage path planning (CPP) optimization for dual-domain operations. We enhance the Scalable Coverage Path Planning (SCoPP) framework by introducing waterborne load balancing during conflict cell allocation, mode-switching path planning, and multi-objective optimization to reduce mission time and energy consumption. Comparative experiments show Amphi-UAVs outperform traditional quadrotor UAVs in wetland environments, especially in endurance and adaptability. We also determine the optimal Amphi-UAVs fleet size for balancing time and energy efficiency. Simulations in the Xixi Wetland validate the algorithm’s real-world applicability.