Indoor Path-Planning Algorithm for UAV-Based Contact Inspection
1
CINTECX, GeoTECH Group, Campus Universitario de Vigo, University of Vigo, As Lagoas, Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain
2
GeoTECH Group, Department Natural Resources and Environmental Engineering, Campus Lagoas, School of Aerospace Engineering, University of Vigo, 32004 Ourense, Spain
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sensors 2021, 21(2), 642; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21020642
Received: 10 December 2020 / Revised: 14 January 2021 / Accepted: 14 January 2021 / Published: 18 January 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deployment and Navigation of Aerial Drones and Unmanned Marine Vehicles for Monitoring, Communication and Delivery)
Nowadays, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are extensively used for multiple purposes, such as infrastructure inspections or surveillance. This paper presents a real-time path planning algorithm in indoor environments designed to perform contact inspection tasks using UAVs. The only input used by this algorithm is the point cloud of the building where the UAV is going to navigate. The algorithm is divided into two main parts. The first one is the pre-processing algorithm that processes the point cloud, segmenting it into rooms and discretizing each room. The second part is the path planning algorithm that has to be executed in real time. In this way, all the computational load is in the first step, which is pre-processed, making the path calculation algorithm faster. The method has been tested in different buildings, measuring the execution time for different paths calculations. As can be seen in the results section, the developed algorithm is able to calculate a new path in 8–9 milliseconds. The developed algorithm fulfils the execution time restrictions, and it has proven to be reliable for route calculation.
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Keywords:
autonomous navigation; contact inspection; NDT; UAV; payload; industrial inspection
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MDPI and ACS Style
González de Santos, L.M.; Frías Nores, E.; Martínez Sánchez, J.; González Jorge, H. Indoor Path-Planning Algorithm for UAV-Based Contact Inspection. Sensors 2021, 21, 642. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21020642
AMA Style
González de Santos LM, Frías Nores E, Martínez Sánchez J, González Jorge H. Indoor Path-Planning Algorithm for UAV-Based Contact Inspection. Sensors. 2021; 21(2):642. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21020642
Chicago/Turabian StyleGonzález de Santos, Luis M.; Frías Nores, Ernesto; Martínez Sánchez, Joaquín; González Jorge, Higinio. 2021. "Indoor Path-Planning Algorithm for UAV-Based Contact Inspection" Sensors 21, no. 2: 642. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21020642
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