Waypoint guidance of cooperative UAVs for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance

This paper presents a guidance law to operate intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions using cooperative UAVs under known static threats. The guidance law is classified into three levels. In level 1 as the highest level, waypoints of UAVs are selected using different cost functions. In level 2, preliminary paths are generated using the A* algorithm for avoiding threats, and approaching waypoints with efficient operation. In level 3, practical guidance commands are generated using a Lyapunov vector field to enable the UAVs to follow the path designed. Simulation results show that the integrated algorithm offers desirable flexibility, and can be implemented easily without much modification in real situations.