Hybrid Planning and Control for Multiple Fixed-Wing Aircraft under Input Constraints

TL;DR

This paper introduces a hybrid control framework for multiple fixed-wing vehicles with input constraints, ensuring collision avoidance and convergence to destinations through a switching logic and temporary goal assignment.

Contribution

It proposes a novel hybrid control protocol with a switching law and temporary goal assignment for safe, convergent multi-vehicle navigation under input constraints.

Findings

Guarantees collision-free trajectories for fixed-wing vehicles.

Ensures convergence to desired destinations without Zeno behavior.

Validated through simulation results.

Abstract

This paper presents a novel hybrid control protocol for de-conflicting multiple vehicles with constraints on control inputs. We consider turning rate and linear speed constraints to represent fixed-wing or car-like vehicles. A set of state-feedback controllers along with a state-dependent switching logic are synthesized in a hybrid system to generate collision-free trajectories that converge to the desired destinations of the vehicles. The switching law is designed so that the safety can be guaranteed while no Zeno behavior can occur. A novel temporary goal assignment technique is also designed to guarantee convergence. We analyze the individual modes for safety and the closed-loop hybrid system for convergence. The theoretical developments are demonstrated via simulation results.