A receding horizon approach for dynamic UAV mission management
Christos G. Cassandras, Wei Li · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2003
We consider a setting where multiple UAVs form a team cooperating to visit multiple targets to collect rewards associated with them. The team objective is to maximize the total reward accumulated over a given time interval. Complicating factors include uncertainties regarding the locations of targets and the effectiveness of collecting rewards, differences among vehicle capabilities, and the fact that rewards are time-varying. We describe a Receding Horizon (RH) control scheme which dynamically assigns vehicles to targets and simultaneously determines associated trajectories. This scheme is based on solving a sequence of optimization problems over a planning horizon and executing them over a shorter action horizon. We also describe a simulated battlespace environment designed to test UAV team missions and to illustrate how the RH scheme can achieve optimal performance with high probability.