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A Harmonic Potential Approach for Simultaneous Planning and Control of a Generic UAV Platform

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Abstract

Simultaneous planning and control of a large variety of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is tackled using the harmonic potential field (HPF) approach. A dense reference velocity field generated from the gradient of an HPF is used to regulate the velocity of the UAV concerned in a manner that would propel the UAV to a target point while enforcing the constraints on behavior that were a priori encoded in the reference field. The regulation process is carried-out using a novel and simple concept called the: virtual velocity attractor (VVA). The combined effect of the HPF gradient and the VVA is found able to yield an efficient, easy to implement, well-behaved and provably-correct context-sensitive control action that suits a wide variety of UAVs. The approach is developed and basic proofs of correctness are provided along with simulation results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Electrical Engineering, King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia

    Ahmad A. Masoud

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  1. Ahmad A. Masoud
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Masoud, A.A. A Harmonic Potential Approach for Simultaneous Planning and Control of a Generic UAV Platform. J Intell Robot Syst 65, 153–173 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-011-9570-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-011-9570-8

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