Optimal three dimensional Terrain Following/Terrain Avoidance for aircraft using direct transcription method

In this paper, we consider the problem of three-dimensional Terrain Following/Terrain Avoidance for an aircraft. Both dynamic and kinematic equations of flight are taken into account. This problem is formulated as an optimal control problem. Direct transcription method is then used to find the solution of the optimal control problem. The constraints of the flight are taken into account as complete as possible. We apply the method to a model of F - 16 in a simulation example to validate the effectiveness of the approach.