Hierarchical Area-Based and Path-Based Heuristic Approaches for Multirobot Coverage Path Planning with Performance Analysis in Surveillance Systems

In this study, we present a systematic exploration of hierarchical designs for multirobot coverage path planning (MCPP) with a special focus on surveillance applications. Unlike conventional studies centered on cleaning tasks, our investigation delves into the realm of surveillance problems, specifically incorporating the sensing range (SR) factor equipped on the robots. Conventional path-based MCPP strategies considering SR, primarily rely on naive approaches, generating nodes (viewpoints) to be visited and a global path based on these nodes. Therefore, our study proposes a general MCPP framework for surveillance by dealing with path-based and area-based structures comprehensively. As the traveling salesman problem (TSP) solvers, our approach incorporates not the naive approach but renowned and powerful algorithms such as genetic algorithms (GAs), and ant colony optimization (ACO) to enhance the planning process. We devise six distinct methods within the proposed MCPP framework. Two methods adopt area-based approaches which segments areas via a hierarchical max-flow routing algorithm based on SR and the number of robots. TSP challenges within each area are tackled using a GA or ACO, and the result paths are allocated to individual robots. The remaining four methods are categorized by the path-based approaches with global-local structures such as GA-GA, GA-ACO, ACO-GA, and ACO-ACO. Unlike conventional methods which requires a global path, we further incorporate ACO- or GA-based local planning. This supplementary step at the local level enhances the quality of the path-planning results, particularly when dealing with a large number of nodes, by preventing any degradation in global path-planning outcomes. An extensive comparative analysis is conducted to evaluate the proposed framework based on execution time, total path length, and idle time. The area-based approaches tend to show a better execution time and overall path length performance compared to the path-based approaches. However, the path-based MCPP methods have the advantage of having a smaller idle time than the area-based MCPP methods. Our study finds that the proposed area-based MCPP method excels in path planning, while the proposed path-based MCPP method demonstrates superior coverage balance performance. By selecting an appropriate MCPP structure based on the specific application requirements, leveraging the strengths of both methodologies, efficient MCPP execution becomes attainable. Looking forward, our future work will focus on tailoring these MCPP structures to diverse real-world conditions, aiming to propose the most suitable approach for specific applications.