Coordinated Standoff Tracking of Moving Targets Using Lyapunov Guidance Vector Fields

This paper presents a control structure for cooperative stand-off line-of-sight tracking of a moving target by a team of unmanned aircraft based on a Lyapunov guidance vector field that produces stable convergence to a circling limit cycle behavior. A guidance vector field is designed for a stationa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of guidance, control, and dynamics control, and dynamics, 2008-03, Vol.31 (2), p.290-306
Main Authors: Frew, Eric W, Lawrence, Dale A, Morris, Steve
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptative systems
Aerospace engineering
Aircraft
Applied sciences
Computer science
control theory
systems
Control theory. Systems
Exact sciences and technology
Modelling and identification
Optimization algorithms
Sensors
Teams
Unmanned aerial vehicles
Vehicles
Velocity
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper presents a control structure for cooperative stand-off line-of-sight tracking of a moving target by a team of unmanned aircraft based on a Lyapunov guidance vector field that produces stable convergence to a circling limit cycle behavior. A guidance vector field is designed for a stationary target and then modified with a correction term that accounts for a moving target and constant background wind. Cooperative tracking by multiple unmanned aircraft is achieved through additional phasing, also with a Lyapunov stability analysis. Convoy protection, in which the unmanned aircraft must scout an area ahead of the moving target, is performed by extending the cooperative stand-off line-of-sight limit cycle attractor along the direction of travel. Simulation results demonstrate the behavior of the algorithms as well as the improvement that results from cooperation. Finally, simulations of a larger cooperative search, acquisition, and tracking scenario are described that illustrate the use of the cooperative stand-off line-of-sight and convoy protection controllers in a realistic application. [PUBLISHER ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0731-5090
1533-3884
DOI:10.2514/1.30507