A UAV Path Planning Method for Building Surface Information Acquisition Utilizing Opposition-Based Learning Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm

To obtain more building surface information with fewer images, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) path planning method utilizing an opposition-based learning artificial bee colony (OABC) algorithm is proposed. To evaluate the obtained information, a target information entropy ratio model based on observation angles is proposed, considering the observation angle constraints under two conditions: whether there is an obstacle around the target or not. To efficiently find the optimal observation angles, half of the population that is lower-quality generates bit points through opposition-based learning. The algorithm searches for better individuals near the bit points when generating new solutions. Furthermore, to prevent individuals from observing targets repeatedly from similar angles, the concept of individual abandonment probability is proposed. The algorithm can adaptively abandon similar solutions based on the relative position between the individual and the population. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, information acquisition experiments were conducted on real residential buildings, and the results of 3D reconstruction were analyzed. The experiment results show that while model accuracy is comparable to that of the comparison method, the number of images obtained is reduced to one-fourth of the comparison method. The operation time is significantly reduced, and 3D reconstruction efficiency is remarkably improved.