Collision Avoidance of Dynamic Obstacles Utilizing a Potential Flow Theory Approach
Open Access
Author:
Pence, Jack
Area of Honors:
Aerospace Engineering
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Jacob Willem Langelaan, Thesis Supervisor Sven Schmitz, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Aerospace collision avoidance flight test autonomy autonomous flight controls and dynamics navigation control simulation guidance drone uav uam
Abstract:
This thesis addresses the problem of collision avoidance in high density airspaces through the use of virtual potential fields. Here Rankine Bodies (a source and an associated sink) are used to represent moving obstacles: this induces motion around an obstacle and provides guidance back to the original path. Simulations of a scenario involving three aircraft show intuitively expected collision avoidance behavior; simulations of scenarios involving many aircraft show that safe, collision free flight paths can be generated and flown using potential fields.
