Centralized Path Planning for Multi-aircraft in the Presence of Static and Moving Obstacles

This article proposes a new approach for centralized path planning of multiple aircraft in presence of the obstacle-laden environment under low flying rules. The problem considers as a unified nonlinear constraint optimization problem. The minimum time and control investigate as the cost functions and the maximum velocity and power consider as the constraints. The pseudospectral method applies as a popular and fast direct method to solve the constrained path planning problem. The three-degree-of-freedom nonlinear point mass equations of motion with realistic operational aircraft constraints consider through the simplified mathematical model. The fixed obstacle considers as a combination of spheres with different radius. Also, the moving obstacles consider as a sphere with a known radius and fly at a constant speed. The effectiveness of the proposed concept will be demonstrated by presenting four case studies with a different number of aircraft along with the static and moving obstacles in various scenarios to ensure safe and effective flights.