An FW–GA Hybrid Algorithm Combined with Clustering for UAV Forest Fire Reconnaissance Task Assignment

The assignment of tasks for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during forest fire reconnaissance is a highly complex and large-scale problem. Current task allocation methods struggle to strike a balance between solution speed and effectiveness. In this paper, a two-phase centralized UAV task assignment model based on expectation maximization (EM) clustering and the multidimensional knapsack model (MKP) is proposed for the forest fire reconnaissance task assignment. The fire situation information is acquired using the sensors carried by satellites at first. Then, the EM algorithm based on the Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is applied to get the initial position of every UAV. In the end, the MKP is applied for UAV task assignment based on the initial positions of the UAVs. An improved genetic algorithm (GA) based on the fireworks algorithm (FWA) is proposed for faster iteration speed. A simulation was carried out against the background of forest fires in Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and the simulation’s results demonstrate that the task assignment model can quickly and effectively address task allocation problems on a large scale. In addition, the FW–GA hybrid algorithm has great advantages over the traditional GA, particularly in solving time, iteration convergence speed, and solution effectiveness. It can reduce up to 556% of the iteration time and increase objective function value by 1.7% compared to the standard GA. Furthermore, compared to the GA–SA algorithm, its solving time is up to 60 times lower. This paper provides a new idea for future large-scale UAV task assignment problems.