Fixed-wing UAV guidance law for ground target over-flight tracking

Abstract

This paper studies the problem of tracking a ground target for a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based on the proposed guidance law. The algorithm ensures that a UAV continuously overflies the target whether it is fixed or moving. The requirements of the UAV flight constraints such as bounded airspeed and acceleration are considered. A Lyapunov function is constructed to prove the stability of the proposed guidance law, and parameter design criteria have been developed. Considering the fixed and moving ground targets, numerical simulations are performed to verify the feasibility and benefits of the proposed guidance algorithm.