A Comprehensive Survey on Coverage Path Planning for Mobile Robots in Dynamic Environments

Abstract

Coverage Path Planning (CPP) is a fundamental aspect of mobile robotics, enabling robots to navigate dynamic environments efficiently while ensuring thorough coverage of all areas of interest and avoiding obstacles. CPP is pivotal in diverse applications, from everyday tasks like vacuum cleaning, lawn mowing, and window cleaning to specialized operations such as demining hazardous areas, autonomous underwater imaging, and inspecting complex structures. This survey reviews recent advancements in CPP, focusing on algorithms and methodologies tailored for dynamic environments. It highlights the challenges posed by environmental variability, obstacle dynamics, and real-time computational demands. By synthesizing insights from existing research, this survey aims to guide future developments in CPP, paving the way for smarter and more adaptive robotic systems capable of handling the complexities of real-world scenarios.