An Optimal Three-Dimensional Drone Layout Method for Maximum Signal Coverage and Minimum Interference in Complex Pipeline Networks.

Abstract

In daily pipeline inspection, it is significant to ensure good network communication and security. With the development of drone technology, it is possible to apply drones as air routers to collect information from pipeline networks and transmit it to pipeline inspectors. It is also crucial to achieve optimal drone deployment in pipeline networks. This article proposes a two-phase evolution optimal 3-D drone layout algorithm to deploy drones in pipeline networks. First, a 3-D pipeline graph model is designed to represent the possible projection position of drones, and the objective function is proposed for optimal drone deployment. Then, in the first phase, based on the features of the 3-D pipeline graph, the drone flight rules and constraint conditions are presented to calculate the number of drones and the initial layout sequence. In the second phase, according to the objective function and the above results, every drone is continuously moved in a small area to achieve a tradeoff between signal coverage and interference. Moreover, the key parameters of the objective function can be discussed to further optimize drone deployment. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed algorithm.