Search for a mobile target by ground vehicle on a topographic terrain

We address a continuous space search problem, where the searcher and the mobile target are moving on a topographic terrain, and the goal of the searcher is to locate the target in minimum expected time. The detection occurs when the target is located in the searcher´s observed area. We assume that the searcher´s observed area is bounded by topographic obstacles and changes in time along with the searcher´s trajectory. In the report we provide a general algorithm of search, which is applicable to the search for both static and mobile targets. It follows a two-step solution: the first step is a terrain analysis, and at the second step the searcher´s path is determined. For all simulated topographies the suggested algorithm converges and provides near-optimal solutions for the search of both static and moving targets even in the cases, where standard methods fail to provide solutions in polynomial time.