Horizontal track planning for multi rescue helicopters

In mountain area, terrain is one of the main safety threats for rescue helicopter. The contour map can tell pilot accurate terrain threats information, but it is difficult for a pilot to choose the best rescue route in complex area. Feasible routes set with protected airspace can be obtained by using image processing and image morphology technique, then heuristic path searching A* algorithm can be used to find the shortest route. For several helicopters with rescue mission flying along the valley simultaneously, the best one-way route and best two-way route obtained by deploying the same method are also demonstrated in this article.