An Advanced Path Planning and UAV Relay System: Enhancing Connectivity in Rural Environments

Mostafa El Debeiki, Saba Al-Rubaye, Adolfo Perrusquía (), Christopher Conrad and Juan Alejandro Flores-Campos
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Mostafa El Debeiki: School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, College Road, Bedford MK43 0AL, UK
Saba Al-Rubaye: School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, College Road, Bedford MK43 0AL, UK
Adolfo Perrusquía: School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, College Road, Bedford MK43 0AL, UK
Christopher Conrad: School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, College Road, Bedford MK43 0AL, UK
Juan Alejandro Flores-Campos: Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2580, Mexico City 07340, Mexico

Future Internet, 2024, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is increasing in transportation applications due to their high versatility and maneuverability in complex environments. Search and rescue is one of the most challenging applications of UAVs due to the non-homogeneous nature of the environmental and communication landscapes. In particular, mountainous areas pose difficulties due to the loss of connectivity caused by large valleys and the volumes of hazardous weather. In this paper, the connectivity issue in mountainous areas is addressed using a path planning algorithm for UAV relay. The approach is based on two main phases: (1) the detection of areas of interest where the connectivity signal is poor, and (2) an energy-aware and resilient path planning algorithm that maximizes the coverage links. The approach uses a viewshed analysis to identify areas of visibility between the areas of interest and the cell-towers. This allows the construction of a blockage map that prevents the UAV from passing through areas with no coverage, whilst maximizing the coverage area under energy constraints and hazardous weather. The proposed approach is validated under open-access datasets of mountainous zones, and the obtained results confirm the benefits of the proposed approach for communication networks in remote and challenging environments.

Keywords: UAV relay; mountainous areas; path planning; coverage area; viewshed analysis; energy awareness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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