Optimal Path Planning for UAVs Using Genetic Algorithm

Unmanned Systems has been taking place of manned systems in several fields like aviation. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), one of the most popular and effective unmanned systems, is gradually becoming the vital element of aviation because of its high success rate in both military and civilian missions. Basic problem of UAV is finding the best path in tough environment. Coverage zones of radars and complex environment are the main obstacles in this problem. A UAV intends to travel all control points in an optimal way to be more productive while avoiding radars. In this paper, we used Genetic Algorithm (GA), which is Evolutionary algorithm, to find the optimal flyable path for the UAVs in a 3D environment. Each generation is anticipated to be better than its previous generation in GA. For the purpose of reaching an optimal path, solving the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) is one of the major phases in the proposed method. In order to show the visual of solution in better quality, we preferred MATLAB as the implementation environment. Additionally, there is a shared library and mathematical calculations are easier in MATLAB. The complexity of our problem can be increased by adding extra constraints caused by the dynamic environment as the future works. Experimental results show that GA can be opted for optimal path planning for the UAVs.