UAV Standoff Tracking for Narrow-Area Target in Complex Environment

This article studies the path planning for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) standoff tracking a narrow-area target in complex environment. Since the target state estimation considerably influences the target tracking performance, the constrained interacting multiple model, which uses the geographic information of narrow-areas to enhance the estimation accuracy, is proposed. Then, based on the obtained estimation results, the dynamic Lyapunov guidance vector field (DLGVF) is proposed, which can guide UAVs to converge to not only the expected standoff distance in the horizontal plane but also the desired height in the vertical plane. Moreover, the DLGVF renders the UAV trajectories flexible and shortens the convergence time by skillfully introducing adjustment parameters. Finally, to simultaneously complete the missions of target tracking and obstacle avoidance, an integrated method based on the DLGVF and the interfered fluid dynamical system is presented. Simulations are implemented to demonstrate that the proposed framework is effective.