Energy Optimal Guidance of UAS in Time-Varying 3-Dimensional Wind Environments
Abstract
Increasing the fuel efficiency of military aircraft provides a tactical advantage to the aircraft operator. Increases in fuel efficiency in turn increase an aircrafts time on station, allow higher payload capacity, expand operational range, and reduce operating costs. Since the performance increases from fuel-efficiency compound over time, high endurance aircraft, like intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) unmanned aerial systems (UAS), are a particularly applicable class of aircraft for research. This paper presents an approach for accomplishing these fuel savings through the design of an energy-optimal trajectory planning algorithm. This is done by modeling the performance of a UAS and defining the power required to maintain flight as the cost function in three dimensions and time. The time and location-varying effects of air density and wind are included in this model. Then, using Pontryagin's Minimum Principle, the problem becomes a boundary value problem, which is then numerically solved, generating the energy-optimal trajectory. This results in an energy-optimal trajectory solution that utilizes favorable atmospheric effects like tailwinds and updrafts, and avoids detrimental atmospheric effects, like headwinds.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1213535
Entities
People
- Luke J. Lalumandier
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School