Distributed coverage optimization for a fleet of unmanned maritime systems for a maritime patrol and surveillance application

In order for unmanned maritime systems to provide added value for maritime law enforcement agencies, they have to be able to work together as a coordinated team for tasks such as area surveillance and patrolling. Therefore, this paper proposes a methodology that optimizes the coverage of a fleet of unmanned maritime systems, and thereby maximizes the chances of noticing threats. Unlike traditional approaches for maritime coverage optimization, which are also used for example in search and rescue operations when searching for victims at sea, this approaches takes into consideration the limited seaworthiness of small unmanned systems, as compared to traditional large ships, by incorporating the danger level in the design of the optimizer.