Autonomous Trajectory Optimization for UAVs in Disaster Zone Using Henry Gas Optimization Scheme

Abstract

The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a disaster-prone environment plays important role in assisting the rescue services and providing the internet connectivity with the outside world. However, in such a complex environment the selection of optimum trajectory of UAVs is of utmost importance. UAV trajectory optimization deals with finding the shortest path in the minimal possible time. In this paper, a cluster optimization scheme (COS) is proposed using the Henry gas optimization (HGO) metaheuristic algorithm to identify the shortest path having minimal transportation cost and algorithm complexity. The mathematical model is designed for COS using the HGO algorithm and compared with the state-of-the-art metaheuristic algorithms such as particle swarm optimization (PSO), grey wolf optimization (GWO), cuckoo search algorithm (CSA) and barnacles mating optimizer (BMO). In order to prove the robustness of the proposed model, four different scenarios are evaluated that includes ambient environment, constrict environment, tangled environment, and complex environment. In all the aforementioned scenarios, the HGO algorithm outperforms the existing algorithms. Particularly, in the ambient environment, the HGO algorithm achieves a 39.3% reduction in transportation cost and a 16.8% reduction in computational time as compared to the PSO algorithm. Hence, the HGO algorithm can be used for autonomous trajectory optimization of UAVs in smart cities.