Multi-machines and Multi-tasks Scheduling for UAV Power Inspection in Smart Grid

Transmission line inspection and maintenance are the foundation to ensure the normal operation of the power grid. However, transmission line inspection and maintenance in remote regions are expensive, especially in unmanned regions. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) power inspection is significant development towards the space-ground collaborative smart grid. The UAV is used to patrol the power system, and the security problems and fault types can be detected in time by remote video transmission. But in a multi-tasks scenario how to schedule UAVs to complete tasks with the least cost (which can be energy consumption, distance, time) is rarely studied. This paper studies the scheduling problem of multi-machines and multi-tasks in UAVs power inspection, formulates the schedule of UAVs as a multi-traveling salesman problem applied in this scenarios. Two scheduling strategies based on Genetic algorithm and Tabu Search algorithm are proposed to solve the multi-traveling salesman problem. In particular, the Genetic algorithm has a fast convergence speed and a better objective function value. Therefore, it is easier to meet the rapid emergency requirements in the multi-tasks scenarios of the UAVs.