多无人机空中加油的最优会合航路规划

Optimal rendezvous path planning for multiple unmanned aerial vehicle on air refueling

中文关键词  多无人机  空中加油  航路规划  会合  Dubins路径

英文关键词  multiple UAVs  air refueling  path planning  rendezvous  Dubins path

中文摘要

      为了空中加油能面向多架无人机, 本文提出了空中加油的三维最优会合航路规划算法. 多架无人机分布在 不同区域, 需要加油机沿预定的规划航路飞行会合, 以完成空中加油任务. 由于加油机可同时服务的受油机数量有 限, 需要寻找最优分配策略将无人机预分配至不同加油区域与之会合. 本文首先根据加、受油机在各加油区域的最 短会合时间, 将最优分配问题建模为整数线性规划问题, 求解得到加油机与各无人机的最优会合点. 随后, 本文提 出了三维空间Dubins路径延长算法, 保证各无人机按照分配结果与加油机同时到达会合点. 最后, 分别针对二维和 三维多架无人机空中加油任务进行仿真. 仿真结果表明本文提出的最优会合航路规划算法得到的Dubins航路, 可以 保证空中加油会合任务在最短时间内完成.

英文摘要

      To air-refuel multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by a refueling vehicle, we propose a 3-dimensional optimal rendezvous-path planning strategy for the refueling vehicle. Since UAVs are distributed in space, the refueling vehicle has to fly along a pre-planned flight path to rendezvous with the UAV for executing the refueling. Because only a limited number of UAV may be refueled simultaneously by a refueling vehicle, an optimal allocation strategy has to be found for assigning the proper refueling area and the proper time to each UAV for rendezvous. This allocation problem is formulated as an integer linear programming problem according to the shortest rendezvous time required by each UAV in its refueling area. By solving this problem, we obtain the optimal rendezvous point of refueling for each UAV. Next, we employ the 3D Dubins elongation algorithm to ensure every UAV to rendezvous with the fueling vehicle at the assigned allocation point. Simulations of air-refueling on multiple UAVs in 2D and 3D spaces are performed. Results show that the Dubins path obtained by the optimal rendezvous path planning strategy guarantees multiple UAVs to complete rendezvous and air refueling in the shortest time interval.