Generation of Flight Paths Using Heuristic Search

摘要

This thesis examines a solution to the problem of developing an effective, computer algorithm to route aircraft through hostile enemy defenses. The problem was proposed to assist in studies of the impact of varied, on-board countermeasures upon pre-planned aircraft routes. The quality of a route can be defined in terms of the cost of interaction between the aircraft and threats encountered along the path, and the length of the path. Current methods of automated routing are either inefficient or produce unsatisfactory results. Given a more general description of the problem, this thesis details a solution for developing routes by using the artificial intelligence technique of heuristic search in an A* algorithm. The algorithm uses heuristics based upon estimates of the degree of threat interactivity and distance from a point to the goal. Due to the nature of the heuristic, the A* algorithm cannot guarantee development of a least-cost path. However, the heuristic may be adjusted to insure reasonably good results in most cases. Test cases confirm improvements in efficiency while maintaining solution quality comparable to previous methods. The flexibility of the algorithm allows applicability to the specific aircraft routing problem and to other route planning applications. (Author)