Algorithms For 3D UAV Path Planning With Terminal Conditions

This paper addresses the problem of the minimum time 3D path planning satisfying terminal conditions, specified in terms of position and attitude angles under the curvature constraints imposed by the UAV. This topic of the paper is motivated by the need to develop strategies for some UAV specific practical applications. For example, UAV integrated reconnaissance and attack functions sometimes need to arrive at its terminal position with right heading angles and cost the minimum time. Therefore, this paper has obvious significance. Here, the path planning includes both path generation and path following.The algorithm proposed in this paper for path generation depends on Dubins ideas to generate the minimum time 2D path satisfying terminal conditions, specified in terms of position and heading angle. Then, two empirical extensions are presented for the 3D cases, which lead to solutions guaranteeing that the paths satisfy given terminal conditions. Moreover the path is feasible given plant dynamics and it is not demanding for the controller to track since it consists of combinations of straight lines and arcs of circles of constant radii. The path following control system is obtained by a non-linear controller.This paper described a novel solution to the problem of how to get the minimum time path planning satisfying terminal conditions under the curvature constraints imposed by the UAV. Both theoretical and MATLAB simulation results were presented. The theoretical results showed validity of the path generation and convergence of the path following algorithms developed. The simulation results have shown that the algorithms proposed hold potential for future real application. Future works is required to develop an algorithm for optimal 3D path, but not suboptimal 3D path.