Multi-Flight Path Planning for a Single Agricultural Drone in a Regular Farmland Area

Haohan Dong, Xiaohan Ma and Si Zhang ()
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Haohan Dong: School of Management, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
Xiaohan Ma: School of Management, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
Si Zhang: School of Management, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-30

Abstract: The sustainable management of agricultural systems is crucial for ensuring food security and environmental stewardship. This paper advances development in the field of sustainable agriculture by focusing on the application of plant protection drone technology in efficiently controlling crop diseases and pests. This paper investigates multi-flight path planning for a single agricultural drone in regular farmland, establishing a path planning model that takes into account environmental factors and the movement characteristics of the drone. By conducting a quantitative analysis of farmland information, this paper optimizes the traversal path of drones in two dimensions: pesticide consumption and energy consumption. The paper introduces a novel optimization algorithm that optimizes the grid activity values by adjusting the energy consumption function, and based on the comprehensive coverage path planning, dynamically adjusts the cost function of the A* algorithm with varying weights. The experimental results indicate that the improved A* algorithm has achieved significant enhancements in terms of return path length and optimization efficiency compared to the traditional methods. This study proposes an efficient path planning method for agricultural drones, which aids in reducing energy consumption and enhancing agricultural production efficiency, thereby promoting the sustainable development of agricultural production.

Keywords: plant protection drone; route planning; multiple flight traversal; grid method; A* algorithm (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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