Modeling and Roadmap Generation for Truss Inspection by Small UAS

Small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) can increase efficiency and reduce risk to humans during the inspection of truss-supported structures such as steel bridges. This paper describes a method to mathematically represent a truss and subsequently to plan an efficient, collision-free path from a given starting position to a given goal. The algorithm generates a deterministic roadmap which connects nodes that are generated near the joints of the structure. This roadmap is then searched for the path using a lazy A* algorithm. Simulation results show the functionality of the algorithm. Comparison with a probabilistic roadmap method indicates the proposed algorithm's efficiency.