Keywords

Real Time, Trajectory generation, UAVs, Unmanned Air Vehicles

Abstract

Sponsorship: AFOSR, DARPA. This paper presents a real-time, feasible trajectory generation algorithm for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) flying through a sequence of waypoints. The algorithm produces extremal trajectories that transition between straight-line path segments in a time-optimal fashion. In addition, the algorithm can be configured so that the dynamically feasible trajectory has the same path length as the straight-line waypoint path. Implementation issues associated with the algorithm are described in detail. Simulation studies show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Original Publication Citation

Erik P. Anderson , Randal W. Beard , Al W. Beard , Timothy W. McLain. Real Time Dynamic Trajectory Smoothing for Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles. IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, 2003.