Air vehicle optimal trajectories between two radars

The problem of formulating and analyzing the single vehicle path planning problem for radar exposure minimization is addressed. A single vehicle with given initial and final positions is exposed to two radars and the optimal path between the radars is sought. The objective cost of the optimal paths are compared with the direct path (a straight line) as well as trajectories generated using the graphical Voronoi path planning approach. Finally, each radar is given a different weight, simulating differing transmission powers, and optimal paths are sought for the same radar configurations. The objective costs of these trajectories are again compared to the direct path and the weighted Voronoi path. The nonlinear differential equations governing the optimal trajectory against multiple radars constitute a difficult, numerically sensitive two-point boundary value problem. Results indicate that approaching the Voronoi-generated curves in an optimal way from the end points may provide for feasible online and real-time utilization.