A continuous local motion planning framework for unmanned vehicles in complex environments

Berry, Andrew, Howitt, Jeremy, Gu, Da-Wei and Postlethwaite, Ian (2012) A continuous local motion planning framework for unmanned vehicles in complex environments. Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems, 66 (4). pp. 477-494. ISSN 0921-0296

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Abstract

As the complexity of an unmanned vehicle’s operational environment increases so does the need to consider the obstacle space continually, and this is aided by splitting the motion planning functionality into distinct global and local layers. This paper presents a new continuous local motion planning framework, where the output and control space elements of the traditional receding horizon control problem are separated into distinct layers. This separation reduces the complexity of the local motion trajectory optimisation, enabling faster design and increased horizon length. The focus of this paper is on the output space component of this framework. Bezier polynomial functions are used to describe local motion trajectories which are constrained to vehicle performance limits and optimised to track a global trajectory. Development and testing is in simulation, targeted at a nonlinear model of a quadrotor unmanned air vehicle. The defined framework is used to provide situation-aware tracking of a global trajectory in the presence of static and dynamic obstacles, as well as realistic turbulence and gusts. Also demonstrated is the immediate-term decentralised deconfliction of multiple unmanned vehicles, and multiple formations of unmanned vehicles.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Motion planning, local motion planning, control, receding horizon control, model predictive control, sense and avoid, optimization, unmanned, autonomous, unmanned air vehicle, UAV, quadrotor
Subjects:	G700 Artificial Intelligence H300 Mechanical Engineering
Department:	Faculties > Engineering and Environment > Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering
Depositing User:	Katie Harwood
Date Deposited:	27 Nov 2012 10:23
Last Modified:	13 Oct 2019 00:32
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/9553

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