Bio-inspired trajectory generation for UAV perching

This paper represents a bio-inspired trajectory generation (path planning) method for UAV perching. The method is based on the tau theory which was established from studying the natural motion behaviors when animals (including humans) approaching and catching a fixed or moving object. In our research, the tau theory is applied to the trajectory generation problem of a UAV perching on a target object. Two perching scenarios have been studied, one from a flight state (with non-zero initial velocity) and one from a hovering state (with zero initial velocity). Three strategies, namely, perching with a straight-line trajectory, perching with pitch angle coupling, and perching with pitch/yaw angular coupling, are demonstrated with each of the two scenarios. The simulation results show that the resulting flight trajectories meet all the desired requirements for a rotary UAV to perch on an object.