Enable UAVs safely flight in low-altitude: A Preliminary research of the public air route network of UAVs

Abstract

Increasing numbers and industrial applications for UAVs acquire much airspace for low-altitude flights. However, unknow and changeable environment has hindered UAVs’ rapid development. To enable UAVs flight safely and legally at low-altitude, this paper proposed a concept of “low-altitude public air route network (LAPAR)” and presented key technologies. Specifically, Firstly, a four-level air route system were proposed; Secondly, a low-altitude flight environment consisting of various constraints of UAV flights, such as climate, buildings, communication and mountains was constructed by modeling and gridding technology; Thirdly, the optimum path was searched by the improved Ant Colony optimization (ACO) algorithm; Lastly, a network of the public air route was constructed by formulating traffic management regulation for UAV flight in air routes. And a route map in Tianjin has also been obtained. This research can regulate low-altitude air traffic management, improve the utilization of low-altitude airspace resources, and ensure aviation and public safety.