A Study of the Circular Pursuit Dynamics using Bifurcation Theoretic Computational Approach

TL;DR

This paper applies bifurcation theory to analyze circular pursuit dynamics, offering a novel computational approach for modeling pursuer-target engagement scenarios with potential practical guidance.

Contribution

It introduces a bifurcation theoretic numerical method to study pursuit dynamics, including pursuer speed limitations, providing new insights into engagement laws.

Findings

Analytical and simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the bifurcation approach.

The approach highlights advantages in deriving pursuit engagement laws.

Modeling includes pursuer speed limitations for realistic scenarios.

Abstract

A circular pursuit guidance problem involving pursuer-target engagement is studied in this paper using a bifurcation theory based numerical approach. While target is modeled as a point mass moving around in a circle with certain velocity, pursuer dynamics is driven by the relative position and orientation with respect to the target. A planar case is currently considered. A mathematical model representing the engagement scenario is derived and two cases are presented, one without and the other with a basic model for pursuer speed dynamics accounting for limitations imposed by available force. Analytical and simulation results are presented to elucidate the novel approach. Advantages of using this approach for arriving at laws for pursuer-target engagement are highlighted.