Formulation and Solution of the UAV Paparazzi Problem

Many UAV path planning problems dealing with multiple targets are formulated as instances of classical optimization problems such as the Traveling Salesperson Problem (TSP), Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), and the Assignment Problem (AP). In their basic forms, all these problems minimize the length of the flight path to be flown by the UAVs. Even though this is often a reasonable choice, we argue that in instances when the targets are able to hide, or move, an objective function accounting for the target value, as well as the chance of actually finding the target is more natural. In some sense, the problem is similar to the one faced by a Paparazzi photographer, deciding where to go to get snapshots of non cooperative celebrities. Hence we formulate the so-called Paparazzi utility function, and show how it can be applied to UAV path planning problems similar to the TSP, VRP and AP.