Constrained 3-D Trajectory Planning for Aerial Vehicles Without Range Measurement

Tuo Han, Qinglei Hu, Qingyun Wang, Ming Xin, Hyo-Sang Shin

Abstract: A Line of Sight (LOS) angular acceleration-based three-dimensional (3-D) trajectory planning method is designed for aerial vehicles under constrained arrival without range measurement. To achieve this goal, a polynomial in time with arbitrary (greater than 3) orders including a single tuning parameter is developed to create the reference LOS profiles. By revealing the 3-D relation between the lead angle and reference LOS polynomials, the single parameter’s safe range is determined to create feasible LOS profiles that ensure the onboard sensor’s Field of View (FOV) is within its limit. The open-loop acceleration command is derived with time-only information, and the closed-loop command is constructed using the desired LOS angular acceleration profiles. Theoretical analysis proves that the actual LOS profiles perform the same as their desired ones. Moreover, the initial acceleration saturation is avoided, and the final acceleration and LOS rate are zero. The method does not involve the relative range detection, model linearization, switching logic, multiple design parameters, large scale optimization, and the all-covering numerical routine. Finally, extensive simulations are conducted to verify effectiveness of the proposed method.