A new reactive target-tracking control with obstacle avoidance in a dynamic environment

This paper addresses a new reactive control design for point-mass vehicles with limited sensor range to track targets while avoiding static and moving obstacles in a dynamically evolving environment. Towards this end, a multiobjective control problem is formulated and control is synthesized by generating a potential field force for each objective and combining them through analysis and design. Different from standard potential field methods, the composite potential field described in this paper is time-varying and planned to account for moving obstacles and vehicle motion. Basic conditions and key properties are derived using rigorous Lyapunov analysis. Simulation examples are included to illustrate both the design process and performance of proposed control.