Systems and methods for continuous replanning of vehicle trajectories
A method and system for continuously re-planning a vehicle's path, in the face of stationary and moving obstacles, dynamically calculates a new path in real time which is both efficient and maintains minimum safety clearances relative to obstacles. Repulsion signals emanating from obstacles and propagating through delineated sections of a grid representing a geographic space are summed along with values representing the relative distance of the sections from the vehicle origin and vehicle destination. The grid sections having optimal values according to a predetermined criteria represent an efficient and safe travel path between the vehicle origin and destination.
1. A method for planning a path of a vehicle through an area comprising:
A) modeling, within a computer memory, a selected area as a plurality of sub-areas, selected of the sub-areas having a flight object associated therewith;
B) associating with each of the plurality of sub-areas one or more parameters, at least one of the parameters representing a summation value, the summation value including an attraction component, a repulsion component and a distance component determined based on information obtained by the computer associated with the flight object;
C) modifying the summation value associated with selected of the plurality of sub-areas in relation to a proximity of a sub-area another of the plurality of subareas having a flight object associated therewith;
D) determining one or more sub-areas having a summation value satisfying a predetermined rule; and
E) identifying adjacent of the sub-areas satisfying the predetermined rule to define a plan for the path of the vehicle through the area.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein D) comprises:
D1) determining multiple sub-areas having identical summation value magnitudes.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein D) comprises:
D1) determining one or more sub-areas having one of a greatest or least summation value magnitude from among a plurality of sub-areas within the area.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
F) calculating the path of the vehicle from the identified subareas satisfying the predetermined rule.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein D) comprises:
D1) determining one or more sub-areas having a summation value magnitude within a predetermined range.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the flight objects represent one of a stationary and a moving obstacles.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the flight objects represent one of an origin and destination of the vehicle.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the vehicle is an aircraft.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
F) repeating C) through E) upon any of a predetermined frequency, appearance of new flight objects, or changes in a direction, heading, or altitude of a vehicle.
10. The method of claim/further comprising:
G) displaying the defined plan for the path of the vehicle.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein the area is modeled within the computer memory as a grid representing the area.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the plurality of sub-areas are modeled within the computer memory as grid tiles within the grid representing the area.
13. A system for planning a path of a vehicle through an area comprising, the system comprising a processor and a memory coupled to the processor for storing data to be processed by the processor, the system further comprising:
A) program logic configured for modeling, within a computer memory, a selected area as a plurality of sub-areas, selected of the sub-areas having a flight object associated therewith;
B) program logic configured for associating with each of the plurality of subareas one or more parameters, at least one of the parameters representing a summation value, the summation value including an attraction component, a repulsion component and a distance component determined based on information obtained by the computer associated with the flight object;
C) program logic configured for modifying the summation value associated with each of the plurality of sub-areas in relation to a proximity of sub-area having a flight object associated therewith;
D) program logic configured for determining one or more sub-areas having a summation value satisfying a predetermined rule; and
E) program logic configured for identifying adjacent of the sub-areas satisfying the predetermined role to define a plan for the path of the vehicle through the area.
14. The system of claim 13 wherein D) comprises:
D1) program logic configured for determining one or more sub-areas having a summation value magnitude within a predetermined range.
15. The system of claim 13 wherein D) comprises:
D1) program logic configured for determining multiple sub-areas having identical summation value magnitudes.
16. The system of claim 13 wherein D) comprises:
D1) program logic configured for determining one or more sub-areas having one of a greatest or least summation value magnitude from among a plurality of sub-areas within the area.
17. The system of claim 13 further comprising:
F) program logic configured for calculating the path of the vehicle from the identified subareas satisfying the predetermined rule.
18. The system of claim 13 further comprising:
G) program logic configured for displaying the defined plan for the path of the vehicle.
19. A computer program product for use with an computer system operatively, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer useable medium having embodied therein program code comprising:
A) program code for modeling, within a computer memory, a selected area as a plurality of sub-areas, selected of the sub-areas having a flight object associated therewith;
B) program code for associating with each of the plurality of sub-areas one or more parameters, at least one of the parameters representing a summation value, the summation value including an attraction component, a repulsion component and a distance component determined based on information obtained by the computer associated with the flight object;
C) program code for configured for modifying the summation value associated with each of the plurality of sub-areas in relation to a proximity of sub-area having a flight object associated therewith;
D) program code for configured for determining one or more sub-areas having a summation value satisfying a predetermined rule; and
E) program code for identifying adjacent of the sub-areas satisfying the predetermined role to define a plan for the path of the vehicle through the area.
20. A method for planning a path of a vehicle through an area comprising:
A) modeling, within a computer memory, an area having at least one flight object contained within the area;
B) defining a sub-area of the area and a summation parameter associated with the sub-area, the summation parameter including an attraction component, a repulsion component and a distance component determined based on information obtained by the computer associated with the flight object;
C) modifying a value for the summation parameter in accordance with a relative distance of the sub-area to each of the flight objects contained within the area; and
D) determining if the value of the summation parameter of the sub-area satisfies a predetermined rule to facilitate definition of a plan for the path of the vehicle through the area.