Approximate Dynamic Programming Methods for Cooperative UAV Search
Abstract
This paper considers the decentralized dynamic programming path planning decision processes of multiple cooperating autonomous aerial vehicles (UAVs) engaged in a search of an uncertain environment. However, what sets this paper apart from previous work is that a functional approximation is used for the dynamic programming (DP) cost-to-go function, resulting in improved quality of the decisions made while retaining computationally feasibility. Some of the effects of the changes are measured by simulation analysis, and the results are presented.