Real-Time Dynamic Dubins-Helix Method for 3-D Trajectory Smoothing

This brief presents the real-time dynamic Dubins-Helix (RDDH) method for trajectory smoothing, which consists of Dubins-Helix trajectory generation and pitch angle smoothing. The generated 3-D trajectory is called the RDDH trajectory. On one hand, the projection of 3-D trajectory on the horizontal plane is partially generated by Dubins path planner such that the curvature radius constraint is satisfied. On the other hand, the Helix curve is constructed to satisfy the pitch angle constraint, even in the case that the initial and final poses are close. Furthermore, by analyzing the relationship between the parameters and the effectiveness of the RDDH trajectory, the smoothing algorithm is designed to obtain appropriate parameters for a shorter and smoother trajectory. In the end, the numerical results show the proposed method can generate an effective trajectory under diverse initial conditions and achieve real-time computation.