Smooth 3D path planning for non-holonomic UAVs

Abstract

This paper presents a path planning approach for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with non-holonomic constraints, such as fixed-wing airplanes. The control scheme is divided in two stages: local planner and kinematic control. In the planning stage, a smooth curve is generated in 3D Euclidean space, using 3D clothoids approximated by Rational Bézier curves. Then, in a second stage, the autonomous flying vehicle is piloted to track references of velocity and orientation. Real flight simulation tests have been carried out to observe the behaviour of the UAV when following 3D clothoids, in order to analyze the properties and benefits of using such smooth curves for path planning of fixed-wing planes.