Optimal Control of an Uninhabited Loyal Wingman

As researchers strive to achieve autonomy in systems, many believe the goal is not that machines should attain full autonomy, but rather to obtain the right level of autonomy for an appropriate man-machine interaction. A common phrase for this interaction is manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T), a subset of which, for unmanned aerial vehicles, is the concept of the loyal wingman. This work demonstrates the use of optimal control and stochastic estimation techniques as an autonomous near real-time dynamic route planner for the DoD concept of the loyal wingman. First, the optimal control problem is formulated for a static threat environment and a hybrid numerical method is demonstrated. The optimal control problem is transcribed to a nonlinear program using direct orthogonal collocation, and a heuristic particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to supply an initial guess to the gradient-based nonlinear programming solver. Next, a dynamic and measurement update model and Kalman filter estimating tool is used to solve the loyal wingman optimal control problem in the presence of moving, stochastic threats. Finally, an algorithm is written to determine if and when the loyal wingman should dynamically re-plan the trajectory based on a critical distance metric which uses speed and stochastics of the moving threat as well as relative distance and angle of approach of the loyal wingman to the threat. These techniques are demonstrated through simulation for computing the global outer-loop optimal path for a minimum time rendezvous with a manned lead while avoiding static as well as moving, non-deterministic threats, then updating the global outer-loop optimal path based on changes in the threat mission environment. Results demonstrate a methodology for rapidly computing an optimal solution to the loyal wingman optimal control problem

Motion Planning

Motion planning is a fundamental function in robotics and numerous intelligent machines. The global concept of planning involves multiple capabilities, such as path generation, dynamic planning, optimization, tracking, and control. This book has organized different planning topics into three general perspectives that are classified by the type of robotic applications. The chapters are a selection of recent developments in a) planning and tracking methods for unmanned aerial vehicles, b) heuristically based methods for navigation planning and routes optimization, and c) control techniques developed for path planning of autonomous wheeled platforms

Modified mayfly algorithm for UAV path planning

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) path planning problem is primarily concerned with avoiding collision with obstacles while determining the best flight path to the target position. This paper first establishes a cost function to transform the UAV route planning issue into an optimization issue that meets the UAV's feasible path requirements and path safety constraints. Then, this paper introduces a modified Mayfly Algorithm (modMA), which employs an exponent decreasing inertia weight (EDIW) strategy, adaptive Cauchy mutation, and an enhanced crossover operator to effectively search the UAV configuration space and discover the path with the lowest overall cost. Finally, the proposed modMA is evaluated on 26 benchmark functions as well as the UAV route planning problem, and the results demonstrate that it outperforms the other compared algorithms.Web of Science65art. no. 13

Beetle Colony Optimization Algorithm and its Application

Massive data sets and complex scheduling processes have high-dimensional and non-convex features bringing challenges on various applications. With deep insight into the bio-heuristic opinion, we propose a novel Beetle Colony Optimization (BCO) being able to adapt NP-hard issues to meet growing application demands. Two important mechanisms are introduced into the proposed BCO algorithm. The first one is Beetle Antennae Search (BAS), which is a mechanism of random search along the gradient direction but not use gradient information at all. The second one is swarm intelligence, which is a collective mechanism of decentralized and self-organized agents. Both of them have reached a performance balance to elevate the proposed algorithm to maintain a wide search horizon and high search efficiency. Finally, our algorithm is applied to traveling salesman problem, and quadratic assignment problem and possesses excellent performance, which also shows that the algorithm has good applicability from the side. The effectiveness of the algorithm is also substantiated by comparing the results with the original ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm in 3D simulation model experimental path planning

A review: On path planning strategies for navigation of mobile robot

This paper presents the rigorous study of mobile robot navigation techniques used so far. The step by step investigations of classical and reactive approaches are made here to understand the development of path planning strategies in various environmental conditions and to identify research gap. The classical approaches such as cell decomposition (CD), roadmap approach (RA), artificial potential field (APF); reactive approaches such as genetic algorithm (GA), fuzzy logic (FL), neural network (NN), firefly algorithm (FA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), ant colony optimization (ACO), bacterial foraging optimization (BFO), artificial bee colony (ABC), cuckoo search (CS), shuffled frog leaping algorithm (SFLA) and other miscellaneous algorithms (OMA) are considered for study. The navigation over static and dynamic condition is analyzed (for single and multiple robot systems) and it has been observed that the reactive approaches are more robust and perform well in all terrain when compared to classical approaches. It is also observed that the reactive approaches are used to improve the performance of the classical approaches as a hybrid algorithm. Hence, reactive approaches are more popular and widely used for path planning of mobile robot. The paper concludes with tabular data and charts comparing the frequency of individual navigational strategies which can be used for specific application in robotics

New Development on Sense and Avoid Strategies for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can carry out more complex civilian and military applications with less cost and more flexibility in comparison of manned aircraft. Mid-air collision thus becomes profoundly important considering the safe operation of air transportation systems, when UAVs are increasingly used more with various applications and share the same airspace with manned air vehicles. To ensure safe flights, UAVs have to configure Sense and Avoid (S&A) systems performing necessary maneuvers to avoid collisions. After analyzing the manner of S&A system, avoidance strategies based on a subset of possible collision scenarios are proposed in this thesis. 1) To avoid a face-to-face intruder, a feasible trajectory is generated by differential geometric guidance, where the constraints of UAV dynamics are considered. 2) The Biogeography Based Optimization (BBO) approach is exploited to generate an optimal trajectory to avoid multiple intruders’ threats in the landing phase. 3) By formulating the collision avoidance problem within a Markov Decision Process (MDP) framework, a desired trajectory is produced to avoid multiple intruders in the 2D plane. 4) MDP optimization method is extended to address the problem of optimal 3D conflict resolution involving multiple aircraft. 5) Considering that the safety of UAVs is directly related to the dynamic constraints, the differential flatness technique is developed to smoothen the optimal trajectory. 6) Energy based controller is designed such that the UAV is capable of following the generated trajectory

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Routing and Trajectory Optimisation Problem, a Taxonomic Review

Over the past few years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become more and more popular. The complexity of routing UAVs has not been fully investigated in the literature. In this paper, we provide a formal definition of the UAV Routing and Trajectory Optimisation Problem (UAVRTOP). Next, we introduce a taxonomy and review recent contributions in UAV trajectory optimisation, UAV routing and articles addressing these problems, and their variants, simultaneously. We conclude with the identification of future research opportunities.<br/

Machine Learning-Aided Operations and Communications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: A Contemporary Survey

The ongoing amalgamation of UAV and ML techniques is creating a significant synergy and empowering UAVs with unprecedented intelligence and autonomy. This survey aims to provide a timely and comprehensive overview of ML techniques used in UAV operations and communications and identify the potential growth areas and research gaps. We emphasise the four key components of UAV operations and communications to which ML can significantly contribute, namely, perception and feature extraction, feature interpretation and regeneration, trajectory and mission planning, and aerodynamic control and operation. We classify the latest popular ML tools based on their applications to the four components and conduct gap analyses. This survey also takes a step forward by pointing out significant challenges in the upcoming realm of ML-aided automated UAV operations and communications. It is revealed that different ML techniques dominate the applications to the four key modules of UAV operations and communications. While there is an increasing trend of cross-module designs, little effort has been devoted to an end-to-end ML framework, from perception and feature extraction to aerodynamic control and operation. It is also unveiled that the reliability and trust of ML in UAV operations and applications require significant attention before full automation of UAVs and potential cooperation between UAVs and humans come to fruition.Comment: 36 pages, 304 references, 19 Figure

Intelligent Autonomous Decision-Making and Cooperative Control Technology of High-Speed Vehicle Swarms

This book is a reprint of the Special Issue “Intelligent Autonomous Decision-Making and Cooperative Control Technology of High-Speed Vehicle Swarms”,which was published in Applied Sciences