Dynamic avoidance decision method for civil aircraft in a suborbital debris hazard zone

• Published in: PloS one 2023-08, Vol.18 (8), p.e0289500-e0289500
• Main Authors: Chen, Wantong, Diao, Tianru, Ren, Shiyu, Sun, Shuguang, Liu, Ruihua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerospace industry; Air rights; Air traffic control; Air traffic controllers; Aircraft; Aircraft accidents & safety; Aircraft hazards; Algorithms; Analysis; Avoidance; Biology and Life Sciences; Civil aviation; Commercial space; Control algorithms; Debris; Decision making; Decision theory; Delineation; Detritus; Ellipsoids; Energy consumption; Engineering and Technology; Flight; Flight paths; Flight planning; Flight time; Hazards; Health risks; Management; Medicine and Health Sciences; Methods; Moon; Optimization algorithms; Path planning; Physical Sciences; Planning; Research and Analysis Methods; Researchers; Resource utilization; Risk assessment
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289500

Closing the static suborbital debris hazard zone method leads to low airspace resource utilization and long delays for civil aircraft, while the dynamic delineation of suborbital debris hazard zone method can solve the above phenomena. However, the existing research lacks the decision instruction for civil aircraft to avoid the dynamic suborbital debris hazard zone. To address the above problems, this paper creates probability ellipsoids of suborbital debris with different ballistic coefficients in the two-dimensional plane and use the divide-and-conquer algorithm for the dynamic delineation of the suborbital debris hazard zone. The suborbital debris hazard zone is extended outward by 10 km. Subsequently, the standard A* algorithm, the standard Lazy theta* algorithm, the improved Lazy theta* algorithm, and a flight path planning strategy are designed to avoid the suborbital debris hazard zone and provide safe dynamic avoidance commands for civil aircraft with fixed time intervals. The simulation results show that the average area of the dynamically delineated suborbital debris hazard zone is lower than the traditional static no-fly zone; the standard A* algorithm and improved Lazy theta* algorithm provides shorter flight path lengths and flight time and fewer waypoints in windless and windy conditions, respectively.