Real time optimal path generation with mission and vehicle maneuvering constraints

In this paper, the generation of three-dimensional trajectories for unmanned aerial systems in presence of path constraints and limited vehicle maneuvering capabilities is discussed. The paper extends a previous work, which concerned with only obstacles of cylindrical shape having infinite height. On the contrary, the proposed algorithm introduces height limitations to cylindrical shape forbidden areas and it can efficiently cope with right prismatic obstacles having limited height, two-dimensional boundary constraints defining the area of operations and, furthermore, three-dimensional minimum height constraints given by terrain elevation data. By limiting the maximum number and shape of the obstacles, the computational effort is also limited, thus making the proposed technique suitable for a real-time implementation. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy has been shown by means of numerical simulations in a single scenario including different types of simultaneous forbidden areas and dynamical constraints.