Flight Testing Boustrophedon Coverage Path Planning for Fixed Wing UAVs in Wind

Abstract

A method was previously developed by this author to optimise the flight path of a fixed wing UAV performing aerial surveys of complex concave agricultural fields. This relies heavily on a flight time in wind prediction model as its cost function. This paper aims to validate this model by comparing flight test results with the model prediction. There are a number of assumptions that this model relies on. The major assumption is that wind is steady and uniform over the small area and time scales involved in a survey. To show that this is reasonable, wind fields measurements will be taken from a multi rotor UAV with an ultrasonic windspeed sensor.