A path planning method for UAVs based on multi-objective pigeon-inspired optimisation and differential evolution

Inspired by the behaviour of pigeon flocks, an improved method of path planning and autonomous formation for unmanned aerial vehicles based on the pigeon-inspired optimisation and differential evolution is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the mathematical model for UAV path planning is devised as a multi-objective optimisation with three indices, i.e., the length of a path, the sinuosity of a path, and the risk of a path. Then, the method integrated by pigeon-inspired optimisation and mutation strategies of differential evolution is developed to optimise feasible paths. Besides, Pareto dominance is applied to select the global best position of a pigeon. Finally, a series of simulation results compared with standard particle swarm optimisation algorithm and standard differential evolution algorithm show the effectiveness of our method.