Multi-Stage Path Planning for Unmanned Surface Vessels Recovery

In this paper, a multi-stage path planning algorithm based on geometric method for automated unmanned surface vessels (USVs) recovery is presented, where there are no constraints for the initial positions and velocity of mother/child boats. Different efficient paths can be obtained by dividing the overall goal of recovery into different sub-goals according to the random course of the mother boat, which satisfies the maneuverability constraints of different boat types. Finally, the result of simulation is given to verify the effectiveness of our proposed method, which shows that the mother boat can collect child boats successfully at any initial location and initial velocity in both straight and curve courses.