Coverage Path Planning of Penaeus vannamei Feeding Based on Global and Multiple Local Areas

Penaeus vannamei (whiteleg shrimp) has high aquaculture economic benefits, and the high-frequency feeding method is crucial for the rapid growth of shrimp during the breeding process. In order to cope with the high-frequency feeding method, the unmanned surface vehicle can greatly improve feeding efficiency and precision. Furthermore, the labor intensity of the personnel also reduced. The path planning of the unmanned surface vehicle (USV) is a prerequisite for improving feeding efficiency. Based on the actual growth process of shrimp, a two-stage feeding path planning strategy is proposed. In the seedling stage of shrimp, the range of activities is small, and it is necessary to uniformly cover the whole aquaculture area. In this paper, a higher coverage internal and external spiral traversal coverage path planning method is proposed. In the mature stage of shrimp, local area aggregation will be formed because of the larger activity space of shrimp, then it needs to cover and feed the aggregation areas. So we proposed a path planning strategy combining global and multiple local areas coverages, and an improved simulated annealing genetic algorithm is adopted to solve the global path planning. Finally, the application of two different path planning strategies achieves the path planning of the whole growth cycle of the South America shrimp, which improves the feeding efficiency of the bait and reduces the cost of breeding.