Path planning for moving target tracking by fixed-wing UAV

For the automatic tracking of unknown moving targets on the ground, most of the commonly used methods involve circling above the target. With such a tracking mode, there is a moving laser spot on the target, which will bring trouble for cooperative manned helicopters. In this paper, we propose a new way of tracking, where an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) circles on one side of the tracked target. A circular path algorithm is developed for monitoring the relative position between the UAV and the target considering the real-time range and the bearing angle. This can determine the center of the new circular path if the predicted range between the UAV and the target does not meet the monitoring requirements. A transition path algorithm is presented for planning the transition path between circular paths that constrain the turning radius of the UAV. The transition path algorithm can generate waypoints that meet the flight ability. In this paper, we analyze the entire method and detail the scope of applications. We formulate an observation angle as an evaluation index. A series of simulations and evaluation index comparisons verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.