A coverage planner for AUVs using B-splines

Abstract

This papers addresses the problem of coverage path planning (CPP) for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The proposed offline planner employs a B-spline map representation of the target structure or region to be inspected. The method can be applied for both convex and non-convex shapes using an unified framework. The computed coverage path is described by a cubic B-spline curve that respects the kinodynamics constraints of a holomic vehicle. Due to the differentiability property of cubic B-splines, the desired velocity and the acceleration commands for the AUV are implicitly obtained from the coverage path. Simulation results show the planner performance in different mission scenarios.