Minimum time UAV pursuit of a moving ground target using partial information

Abstract

The optimal control of a "blind" UAV searching for a target moving on a road network and heading at a known speed toward a set of goal vertices is considered. To aid the UAV, some roads in the network have been instrumented with Unattended Ground Sensors (UGSs) that detect the target's passage. When the UAV arrives at an instrumented node, the UGS therein informs the UAV if and when the target visited the node. In addition, the UAV can choose to wait/loiter for an arbitrary time at any UGS location/node. At time 0, the target passes by an entry node on his way towards one of the exit nodes. The UAV also arrives at this entry node after some delay and is thus informed about the presence of the target/target in the network, whereupon the chase is on-the UAV is tasked with capturing the target. Because the UAV is blind, capture entails the UAV and target being collocated at an UGS location. If this happens, the UGS is triggered and this information is instantaneously relayed to the UAV, thereby enabling capture. On the other hand, if the target reaches one of the exit nodes without being captured, he is deemed to have escaped. For a given initial delay, we compute the pursuit policy, if it exists, that achieves capture in minimum time, under worst-case target actions.

Multiple-Scenario Unmanned Aerial System Control: A Systems Engineering Approach and Review of Existing Control Methods

“…Krishnamoorthy et al [65,66] developed a method of searching and tracking a moving target traveling with a known speed and direction on a road network while utilizing unattended ground sensors for target detection. This work was later developed and demonstrated with multiple-vehicles, multiple-targets, and a large series of ground sensors by Rasmussen and Kingston [67].…”

Intruder Isolation on a General Road Network Under Partial Information

“…Works on closely related UGS-based IIPs have been studied very recently [16]- [20], mostly focusing on the discrete time setting where the UAV and the intruder share a common game domain and each of them occupies one vertex at each time step. Sufficient conditions for guaranteed capture on a simple network with a finite number of nodes in discrete time have been developed [17].…”

Novel DTN Mobility-Driven Routing in Autonomous Drone Logistics Networks

“…Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are aircraft that can either operate autonomously or be flown under remote control [1]- [3]. Drones were initially used in military and civilian applications [4], [5], such as surveillance, policing, firefighting, and search and rescue missions [6]. More recently, retail companies such as Domino's, UPS and Amazon are investing to develop drones in order to make fast deliveries to their customers [7].…”