Time-Constrained Extremal Trajectory Design for Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Steady Wind

摘要

THE mishap rates in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are several orders of magnitude greater than manned aviation. Considering these high rates, it is understandable why the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has initiated several programs and partnerships to increase the safety and the reliable operation of UAVs. With these programs and partnerships, the FAA's vision is to go beyond the accommodation practices in use today and move toward full integration of the UAVs into the National Airspace System. To reduce mishap rates, the reliability of UAVs can be improved using durable engines and communication equipment, strong structural materials, advanced conditioned-based maintenance and structural health monitoring procedures, robust fault diagnosis and prognosis algorithms, and robust and fault-tolerant controllers. Despite the aforementioned measures, some equipment failures such as engine failures may still occur, and emergency landing places need to be determined. Automating takeoff and landing to support UAV operators is another field of interest to decrease the mishap rates, as military data show that a considerable number of the accidents for which human error is involved occur during these two phases of flight.