An adaptive dual-optimal path-planning technique for unmanned air vehicles with application to solar-regenerative high altitude long endurance flight

A multi-objective technique for Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) path and trajectory autonomy generation, through task allocation and sensor fusion has been developed. The Dual-Optimal Path-Planning (D-O.P-P.) Technique generates on-line adaptive flight paths for UAVs based on available flight windows and environmental influenced objectives. The environmental influenced optimal condition, known as the driver' determines the condition, within a downstream virtual window of possible vehicle destinations and orientation built from the UAV kinematics. The intermittent results are pursued by a dynamic optimization technique to determine the flight path. This sequential optimization technique is a multi-objective optimization procedure consisting of two goals, without requiring additional information to combine the conflicting objectives into a single-objective. An example case-study and additional applications are developed and the results are discussed; including the application to the field of Solar Regenerative (SR) High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UAV flight.;Harnessing solar energy has recently been adapted for use on high altitude UAV platforms. An aircraft that uses solar panels and powered by the sun during the day and through the night by SR systems, in principle could sustain flight for weeks or months. The requirements and limitations of solar powered flight were determined. The SR-HALE UAV platform geometry and flight characteristics were selected from an existing aircraft that has demonstrated the capability for sustained flight through flight tests. The goals were to maintain continual Situational Awareness (SA) over a case-study selected Area of Interest (AOI) and existing UAV power and surveillance systems. This was done for still wind and constant wind conditions at altitude along with variations in latitude.;The characteristics of solar flux and the dependence on the surface location and orientation were established along with fixed flight maneuvers for the SR-HALE UAV. A sustained turn circle flight pattern, common for vehicles in loiter was selected as a baseline for comparisons.;The objectives of the D-O.P-P. Technique for SR-HALE flight were to determine the minimum required power flight paths to the predetermined location and orientation for obtaining maximum solar flux established by the 'driver.' The on-line path generation technique prolonged the flight duration, over the baseline by approximately two months for a year of flight over the case-study AOI. This prolonged flight was consistent for all latitude locations, including two months of available flight at 60 degree latitude---where sustained turn baseline flight was no longer capable. This was possible by increasing the total solar power by as much as 28% while decreasing the averaged power required for flight.