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The present paper attempts to find the optimal coverage path for multiple robots in a given area including obstacles. For single robot coverage path planning (CPP) problem, an improved ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm is proposed to construct the best spanning tree and then obtain the optimal path, which contributes to minimizing the energy/time consumption. For the multirobot case, first the DARP (Divide Areas based on Robots Initial Positions) algorithm is utilized to divide the area into separate equal subareas, so much so that it transforms the mCPP problem into several CPP problems, degrading the computation complexity. During the second phase, spanning tree in each subarea is constructed by the aforementioned algorithm. In the last phase, the specific end nodes are exchanged among subareas to achieve ideal-shaped spanning trees, which can also decrease the number of turns in coverage path. And the complete algorithms are proven to be approximately polynomial algorithms. Finally, the simulation confirms the complete algorithms’ advantages: complete coverage, nonbacktracks, minimum length, zero preparation time, and the least number of turns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The weapon-target assignment (WTA) problem, known as an NP-complete problem, aims at seeking a proper assignment of weapons to targets. The biobjective WTA (BOWTA) optimization model which maximizes the expected damage of the enemy and minimizes the cost of missiles is designed in this paper. A modified Pareto ant colony optimization (MPACO) algorithm is used to solve the BOWTA problem. In order to avoid defects in traditional optimization algorithms and obtain a set of Pareto solutions efficiently, MPACO algorithm based on new designed operators is proposed, including a dynamic heuristic information calculation approach, an improved movement probability rule, a dynamic evaporation rate strategy, a global updating rule of pheromone, and a boundary symmetric mutation strategy. In order to simulate real air combat, the pilot operation factor is introduced into the BOWTA model. Finally, we apply the MPACO algorithm and other algorithms to the model and compare the data. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is successfully applied in the field of WTA which improves the performance of the traditional P-ACO algorithm effectively and produces better solutions than the two well-known multiobjective optimization algorithms NSGA-II and SPEA-II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]