A novel coverage path planning method based on shrink-wrapping technique for autonomous inspection of complex structures using unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

The inspection of large-scale structures can be challenging, time-consuming, costly, and dangerous. Autonomous robotic systems can provide an effective solution for performing such tasks by overcoming the negative aspects. In this paper, we present a novel coverage path planning method for complete sensor scanning of the outer surface of complex structures using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a depth camera. The proposed method introduces a new approach by applying the shrink-wrapping technique to construct a 3D triangular mesh representing the structure's surface boundary. Viewpoints are then generated based on this mesh. Additionally, the triangles within the depth camera's field of view for each viewpoint are determined. The set covering problem (SCP) accepts the set of triangles covered by each viewpoint and reduces the number of viewpoints to decrease the flight distance and time. Finally, the coverage route that includes all the selected viewpoints is defined as the solution to the traveling salesman problem (TSP). We conduct extensive experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method across three different large-scale structures. The results show the validity and effectiveness of the proposed method.