A meta-heuristic optimization approach for optimizing cross-pollination using UAVs

Abstract

ABSTRACT Pollination using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has emerged as a promising solution to the current pollination crisis. The dwindling number of natural pollinators forces the production of cutting-edge pollination technologies. This work proposes a module to optimize path planning for UAVs to travel in a minimum time. This study suggests a novel approach to maximize cross-pollination and minimize travel time with a highly efficient meta-heuristic optimization algorithm. This paper briefly describes a process we previously developed for flower insights that includes flower gender and gene identification and classification. With an insight into flowers, the proposed algorithm aims to achieve efficient and accurate pollination while minimizing energy consumption and convergence time. The Versatile Flower Pollination Algorithm’s (VFPA) approach is superior because it significantly reduces the amount of computing required while maintaining almost optimal performance. The proposed algorithm was successfully implemented to compute the distance between the male and female flowers and transfer nectar with a difference in the nectar value. The proposed approach shows promise for addressing the pollination crisis and reducing the reliance on traditional methods.

Keywords

• Autonomous pollination
• uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
• route planning
• optimization algorithm
• energy consumption.