An Energy-Balanced Path Planning Algorithm for Multiple Ferrying UAVs Based on GA

Table 1

Symbols and definitions.

Symbol	Definition
	Searching UAV
	Ferrying UAV
	Number of searching UAVs
	Number of ferrying UAVs
	Mission time
	Interval time
	Maximum global message delivery ratio
	Number of messages delivered from searching UAV to destination successfully during
	Number of messages generated by searching UAV during
N	Constant value of
	Time when the ferrying UAV ferrying messages for searching UAV is energy-exhausted
	The average number of messages generated by searching UAV and delivered to destination successfully before
R	Number of loops that ferrying UAV flies along the planned path before
	Number of messages generated by the searching UAV during a lap of the ferrying UAV
	Message generation rate of the searching UAV
	The initial energy of the ferrying UAV
	The PPL of ferrying UAV
	Energy consumption (watt/second)
v	Constant speed of the ferrying UAV
	The number of searching UAVs assigned to the ferrying UAV
h	Constant value of
	Average message delay of ferrying UAV
	Deviation time caused by the mobility of searching UAVs
	Average PPL of multiferrying UAVs
	Radius of area where searching UAVs fly