Hierarchical Parameterization for Seamless Transition Trajectory Generation

Abstract

An aircraft transition connects two flight conditions and is a fundamental component of aerospace operations. For achieving a seamless transition that accurately connects two steady flights, a hierarchical parameterization method is developed in this article for generating smooth flight trajectories satisfying hard boundary constraints on controls and control derivatives of all orders. The proposed work is based on a trigonometric series parameterization of control variables and hierarchically parameterizes the series coefficients with flat and logistic functions, leading to a new set of coefficients and a formulation that inherently guarantees the desired conditions. The new set of coefficients can be determined by optimization methods and can be integrated in existing methods with the advantage of streamlining the problem formulation. Simulation studies including comparisons demonstrate the effectiveness and performance of the proposed method.