UAV Trajectory Optimization for Time Constrained Applications

In this letter, we consider a UAV flying over multiple locations and serves as many users as possible within a given time duration. We study the problem of optimal trajectory design, which we formulate as a mixed-integer linear program. For large instances of the problem where the options for trajectories become prohibitively many, we establish a connection to the orienteering problem, and propose a corresponding greedy algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is fast and yields solutions close to the optimal ones. The proposed algorithm can be used for trajectory planning in content caching or tactical field operations.