Route Planning Methods for RPAs: a Literature Review

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Débora Paula Simões
Henrique Candido de Oliveira
Orlando Fontes Lima Júnior
Diogenes Cortijo Costa

Abstract

Nowadays, remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs), popularly known as drones, have a range of applications in several areas, increasing in number and sharing the airspace. In this scenario, security is a crucial factor and, therefore, planning reliable routes is essential. Various are the algorithms based on computational intelligence, as well as the heuristic functions, adopted for the RPAs routing. However, in order to apply them properly, depending on the purpose of the flight, it is essential to know these different methods of planning routes for RPAs. Therefore, this study aims to present, through a literature review, the different methods of RPAs routing, emphasizing their main characteristics and presenting studies that involve them. Thirty-nine articles published from 2002 to 2020, available in different scientific databases were studied, which made possible to classify the planning methods in three main groups based on: the time domain (online and offline), the environment model (2D and 3D), and regarding the characteristics of the aircraft (fixed-wings, multirotors, flapping-wing or hybrids model). In addition, studies involving algorithms and heuristic functions applied to each identified routing method were highlighted. Based on the revised references, it is evident that the research tends towards three-dimensional and online processing - since they address more realistic flight conditions and environments, whose main characteristics are emphasized at the end of this study.

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How to Cite

SIMÕES, Débora Paula; OLIVEIRA, Henrique Candido de; LIMA JÚNIOR, Orlando Fontes; COSTA, Diogenes Cortijo. Route Planning Methods for RPAs: a Literature Review. Brazilian Journal of Cartography, [S. l.], v. 74, n. 2, p. 338–357, 2022. DOI: 10.14393/rbcv74n2-60138. Disponível em: https://seer.ufu.br/index.php/revistabrasileiracartografia/article/view/60138. Acesso em: 6 dec. 2025.

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