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plan

Plan coverage path between takeoff and landing

Since R2023a

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    Syntax

    [path,solninfo] = plan(planner,takeoff)
    [path,solninfo] = plan(planner,takeoff,landing)
    [___] = plan(___,VerboseMode=mode)

    Description

    The plan function returns a coverage path that enables you to optimally surveys a geographical area with a UAV for precision agriculture and image mapping applications.

    example

    [path,solninfo] = plan(planner,takeoff) returns a path consisting of 2D waypoints path, and information about the order of visitation of polygons and sweep permutations solnInfo. The landing position is the same as the takeoff position.

    [path,solninfo] = plan(planner,takeoff,landing) specifies a landing position in addition to the takeoff position.

    [___] = plan(___,VerboseMode=mode) specifies the diagnostic printing mode.

    Examples

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    Open Live Script

    This example shows how to plan a coverage path that surveys the parking lots of the MathWorks Lakeside campus.

    Get the geodetic coordinates for the MathWorks Lakeside campus. Then create the limits for our map.

    mwLS = [42.3013 -71.375 0];
latlim = [mwLS(1)-0.003 mwLS(1)+0.003];
lonlim = [mwLS(2)-0.003 mwLS(2)+0.003];

    Create a figure containing the map with the longitude and latitude limits.

    fig = figure;
g = geoaxes(fig,Basemap="satellite");
geolimits(latlim,lonlim)

    Get the outline of the first parking lot in longitude and latitude coordinates. Then create the polygon by concatenating them.

    pl1lat = [42.3028 42.30325 42.3027 42.3017 42.3019]';
pl1lon = [-71.37527 -71.37442 -71.3736 -71.37378 -71.375234]';
pl1Poly = [pl1lat pl1lon];

    Repeat the process for the second parking lot.

    pl2lat = [42.30035 42.2999 42.2996 42.2999]';
pl2lon = [-71.3762 -71.3734 -71.37376 -71.37589]';
pl2poly = [pl2lat pl2lon];

    Create the coverage space with both of those polygons, set the coverage space to use geodetic coordinates, and set the reference location to the MathWorks Lakeside campus location. 

    cs = uavCoverageSpace(Polygons={pl1Poly,pl2poly},UseLocalCoordinates=false,ReferenceLocation=mwLS);

    Set the height at which to fly the UAV to 25 meters, and the sensor footprint width to 20 meters. Then show the coverage space on the map.

    ReferenceHeight = 25;
cs.UnitWidth = 20;
show(cs,Parent=g);

    Set the sweep angle for polygons 1 and 2 to 85 and 5 degrees, respectively, to have paths that are parallel to the roads in the parking lots. Then create the coverage planner for that coverage space with the exhaustive solver algorithm.

    setCoveragePattern(cs,1,SweepAngle=85)
setCoveragePattern(cs,2,SweepAngle=5)
cp = uavCoveragePlanner(cs,Solver="Exhaustive");

    Set the takeoff position to a location in the courtyard, then plan the coverage path.

    takeoff = [42.30089 -71.3752, 0];
[wp,soln] = plan(cp,takeoff);
hold on
geoplot(wp(:,1),wp(:,2),LineWidth=1.5);
geoplot(takeoff(1),takeoff(2),MarkerSize=25,Marker=".")
legend("","","Path","Takeoff/Landing")
hold off

    Open Live Script

    This example shows how to plan a coverage path for a region in local coordinates and compares the results of using the exhaustive solver with the results of using the minimum traversal solver.

    Define the vertices for a coverage space.

    area = [5 8.75; 5 27.5; 17.5 22.5; 25 31.25; 35 31.25; 30 20; 15 6.25];

    Because vertices define a concave polygon and the coverage planner requires convex polygons, decompose the polygon into convex polygons. Then create a coverage space with the polygons from decomposition.

    polygons = coverageDecomposition(area);
cs = uavCoverageSpace(Polygons=polygons);

    Define the takeoff and landing positions at [0 0 0] and [32.25 37.25 0], respectively. Then show the coverage space and plot the takeoff and landing positions.

    takeoff = [0 0 0];
landing = [32.25 37.25 0];
show(cs);
exampleHelperPlotTakeoffLandingLegend(takeoff,landing)

    Create a coverage planner with the exhaustive solver algorithm and another coverage planner with a minimum traversal solver algorithm. Because Polygon 2 is closer to the takeoff position, set the visiting sequence of the solver parameters such that we traverse Polygon 2 first.

    cpeExh = uavCoveragePlanner(cs,Solver="Exhaustive");
cpMin = uavCoveragePlanner(cs,Solver="MinTraversal");
cpeExh.SolverParameters.VisitingSequence = [2 1];
cpMin.SolverParameters.VisitingSequence = [2 1];

    Plan with both solver algorithms using the same takeoff and landing positions.

    [wptsExh,solnExh] = plan(cpeExh,takeoff,landing);
[wptsMin,solnMin] = plan(cpMin,takeoff,landing);

    Show the planned path for both the exhaustive and the minimum traversal algorithms.

    figure
show(cs);
title("Exhaustive Solver Algorithm")
exampleHelperPlotTakeoffLandingLegend(takeoff,landing,wptsExh)

    figure
show(cs);
title("Minimum Traversal Solver Algorithm")
exampleHelperPlotTakeoffLandingLegend(takeoff,landing,wptsMin)

    Export the waypoints from the minimum traversal solver to a .waypoints file with the reference frame set to north-east-down.

    exportWaypointsPlan(cpMin,solnMin,"coveragepath.waypoints",ReferenceFrame="NED")

    Input Arguments

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    Coverage path planner, specified as a uavCoveragePlanner object.

    UAV takeoff position, specified as a three-element row vector.

    The format depends on the UseLocalCoordinates property of the CoverageSpace property of planner:

    • When UseLocalCoordinates is true the format is local xyz-coordinates in the form [x y z], in meters. UseLocalCoordinates is true by default.

    • When UseLocalCoordinates is false the format is geodetic coordinates in the form [latitude longitude altitude]. latitude and longitude are in degrees, and altitude is in meters.

    Data Types: double

    UAV landing position, specified as a three-element row vector.

    The format depends on the UseLocalCoordinates property of the CoverageSpace property of planner:

    • UseLocalCoordinates=true — Format is local xyz-coordinates in the form [x y z], in meters. UseLocalCoordinates is true by default.

    • UseLocalCoordinates=false — Format is geodetic coordinates in the form [latitude longitude altitude]. latitude and longitude are in degrees, and altitude is in meters.

    Data Types: double

    Verbose mode, specified as true or (1) to output diagnostic information about the planning algorithm to the Command Window, or false or (0) to output no information.

    Output Arguments

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    Waypoint path, specified as a N-by-2 matrix.

    The format depends on the UseLocalCoordinates property of the CoverageSpace property of planner:

    • UseLocalCoordinates=true — Format is local xy-coordinates in the form [x y], in meters. UseLocalCoordinates is true by default.

    • UseLocalCoordinates=false — Format is geodetic coordinates in the form [latitude longitude]. latitude and longitude are in degrees.

    Solution plan, returned as a structure containing these fields:

    • VisitingSequence — N-element row vector denoting the order of visitation of polygons, where N is the total number of polygons in the coverage space. For example, [2 1 3] specifies that the UAV should visit polygon 2 first, polygon 1 second, and polygon 3 last.

    • SweepPattern — N-element row vector of integers denoting the sweep pattern for each polygon, where N is the total number of polygons in the coverage space. Each element is an integer in the range [1, 4] that indicates a sweep pattern:

      • 1 — Forward sweep pattern

      • 2 — Counter-clockwise sweep pattern

      • 3 — Reverse sweep pattern

      • 4 — Reverse counter-clockwise sweep pattern

      For example, [3 1 2] specifies that the UAV should use the reverse sweep pattern for polygon 1, the forward sweep pattern for polygon 2, and the counter-clockwise sweep pattern for polygon 3.

    • TransitionCost — Euclidean distance cost for transitioning between polygons including takeoff and landing distance.

    • Takeoff — Takeoff location, specified as a three-element row vector in LLA format.

    • Landing — Takeoff location, specified as a three-element row vector in LLA format.

    Extended Capabilities

    Version History

    Introduced in R2023a

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    See Also

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