UAV Path Planning Algorithm Based on Improved Harris Hawks Optimization.

In the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system, finding a flight planning path with low cost and fast search speed is an important problem. However, in the complex three-dimensional (3D) flight environment, the planning effect of many algorithms is not ideal. In order to improve its performance, this paper proposes a UAV path planning algorithm based on improved Harris Hawks Optimization (HHO). A 3D mission space model and a flight path cost function are first established to transform the path planning problem into a multidimensional function optimization problem. HHO is then improved for path planning, where the Cauchy mutation strategy and adaptive weight are introduced in the exploration process in order to increase the population diversity, expand the search space and improve the search ability. In addition, in order to reduce the possibility of falling into local extremum, the Sine-cosine Algorithm (SCA) is used and its oscillation characteristics are considered to gradually converge to the optimal solution. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm has high optimization accuracy, convergence speed and robustness, and it can generate a more optimized path planning result for UAVs.

Multi-UAV Path Planning Algorithm Based on BINN-HHO.

Multi-UAV (multiple unmanned aerial vehicles) flying in three-dimensional (3D) mountain environments suffer from low stability, long-planned path, and low dynamic obstacle avoidance efficiency. Spurred by these constraints, this paper proposes a multi-UAV path planning algorithm that consists of a bioinspired neural network and improved Harris hawks optimization with a periodic energy decline regulation mechanism (BINN-HHO) to solve the multi-UAV path planning problem in a 3D space. Specifically, in the procession of global path planning, an energy cycle decline mechanism is introduced into HHO and embed it into the energy function, which balances the algorithm's multi-round dynamic iteration between global exploration and local search. Additionally, when the onboard sensors detect a dynamic obstacle during the flight, the improved BINN algorithm conducts a local path replanning for dynamic obstacle avoidance. Once the dynamic obstacles in the sensor detection area disappear, the local path planning is completed, and the UAV returns to the trajectory determined by the global planning. The simulation results show that the proposed Harris hawks algorithm has apparent superiorities in path planning and dynamic obstacle avoidance efficiency compared with the basic Harris hawks optimization, particle swarm optimization (PSO), and the sparrow search algorithm (SSA).