Master’s Thesis Discusses Path Planning and Obstacle Avoidance for UAVs

The Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Technology reviewed a Master’s thesis titled Improved Path-Planning and Obstacle Avoidance for Micro Air Vehicles. Presented by student Bakr Saeed Shihab, the research introduced a novel algorithm for UAV path planning using a hybrid Artificial Bee Colony (HABC) algorithm.

The HABC algorithm modifies the traditional ABC method by integrating layered adjustments with Local Adaptive Hill Climbing (LAHC), incorporating 3% local search to optimize path rediscovery. Evaluations revealed that HABC outperformed the original ABC, reducing path length by up to 25% and enhancing overall performance.

The defense committee included Dr. Hikmat Najm Abdullah as chair, Dr. Hamid Musa Hassan, and Dr. Suad Khairy Mohammed as members, with Dr. Hadeel Nasrat Abdullah and Dr. Laith Abdul Kareem Hasnawi as supervisors.