← Back to list of papers of the 2022 EuroGNC conference

CEAS EuroGNC 2022

Optimal Intruder Collision Avoidance for UAVs via Waypoint Tracking
Aniruddha Perumalla Ph.D. Student, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States 16802.
Eric Johnson Professor, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States 16802.
Puneet Singla Professor, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States 16802.
Anusna Chakraborthy Research and Development Scientist, UtopiaCompression Corporation, LosAngeles, California, United States 90064.
Lukas Liebischer Research and Development Software Engineer, UtopiaCompression Corporation, Los Angeles, California, United States 90064.
Abstract:
This paper presents a guidance strategy for UAV navigation to a destination while safely avoiding static and moving obstacles along the way, building on previous work that reduces the problem of collision avoidance to one of waypoint tracking. The strategy developed in this paper introduces a "safety ellipsoid" approach, a more general variation of the "collision cone" introduced in previous work, to assess whether obstacles are critical enough to require a maneuver, and generate temporary waypoints if so. A well-known proportional navigation optimal guidance law is utilized to reach the waypoints with minimum control effort and thereby avoid the obstacles. The strategy is validated via physically accurate, image-in-the-loop simulation, using Microsoft AirSim, of a head-on encounter between a UAV and an intruder aircraft whose position is estimated through a visual tracking system. The simulations demonstrate that this approach may be particularly useful in collision scenarios in which aircraft must meet international "remain well-clear" (RWC) standards to avoid other vehicles in the airspace.
Keywords: obstacle avoidance; UAV navigation; optimal control; collision avoidance; autonomous aircraft
 View PDF CEAS-GNC-2022-022


Aniruddha Perumalla, Eric Johnson, Puneet Singla, Anusna Chakraborthy, Lukas Liebischer: Optimal Intruder Collision Avoidance for UAVs via Waypoint Tracking. Proceedings of the 2022 CEAS EuroGNC conference. Berlin, Germany. May 2022. CEAS-GNC-2022-022.
BibTeX entry:

@Incollection{CEAS-GNC-2022-022,
    authors = {Perumalla, Aniruddha and Johnson, Eric and Singla, Puneet and Chakraborthy, Anusna and Liebischer, Lukas},
    title = {Optimal Intruder Collision Avoidance for UAVs via Waypoint Tracking},
    booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2022 {CEAS EuroGNC} conference},
    address = {Berlin, Germany},
    month = may,
    year = {2022},
    note = {CEAS-GNC-2022-022}
}