Energy-Aware Collaborative Exploration for a UAV–UGV Team
Mar 1, 2026·
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1 min read
Saikiran Juttu
Et Al.
Abstract
We address energy-bounded collaborative exploration for a heterogeneous UAV–UGV team operating in GPS-denied environments. We propose a density-aware layered Probabilistic Roadmap (PRM) together with a coupled orienteering formulation that jointly plans information-gathering routes for both agents under energy budgets and rendezvous (docking) constraints, allowing the UGV to serve as a mobile recharging and transport base for the UAV. The approach maximizes information gain while guaranteeing safe return and rendezvous, and is validated through simulation benchmarks and real-world experiments.
Type
Publication
Submitted to IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2026
This work was submitted to IEEE/RSJ IROS 2026. It proposes a density-aware layered PRM and a coupled orienteering formulation for energy-bounded UAV–UGV collaborative exploration with rendezvous constraints, validated through both simulation benchmarks and real-world experiments.
