A firefly algorithm for solving node and edge surveillance problem

with required observation qualities using drones

Ivan Kristianto Singgih
Department of Industrial and Management Engineering,
Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Republic of Korea
Department of Industrial Engineering, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, Surabaya, Indonesia
Tel: (+82) 54 279 8455, Email: ivanksinggih@postech.ac.kr

Jonghwa Lee
Department of Industrial and Management Engineering,
Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Republic of Korea
Department of Industrial Engineering, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, Surabaya, Indonesia
Tel: (+82) 54 279 5568, Email: jet226@postech.ac.kr

Byung-In Kim †
Department of Industrial and Management Engineering
Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Republic of Korea
Tel: (+82) 54 279 2371, Email: bkim@postech.ac.kr

After a disaster occurs, surveillance is conducted to assess the condition of residential areas, relief supply nodes,
and roads for delivering relief supplies. Multiple drones are deployed to capture photos of each observation
targets (nodes and edges) that has a required maximum or minimum observation quality. A drone can capture
photos of less number of target nodes and edges with the maximum quality from a lower altitude. In contrast,
flying at a higher altitude allows the drone to capture photos of a larger area but with the minimum quality. A
battery level limits each drone travel and the battery can be replaced when the drone returns to the depot. Our
study is the first that considers the multiple-drone routing problem with different flying altitudes and battery
recharging process. The objective is to minimize makespan of the observation while assuring that the necessary
photo qualities at target nodes and edges are satisfied. Our problem is solved using a firefly algorithm that is
proven to perform well compared with the results of a mixed integer linear programming model.

Keywords: drone routing, surveillance, altitude, photo quality, firefly algorithm