Time-optimal moving target interception with impact angle constraint

Abstract

The time-optimal guidance law with impact angle constraint to intercept a nonstationary nonmaneuvering target in three-dimensional (3D) space by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is discussed in this paper. To achieve less computational complexity, the guidance law proposed here is based on the proportional navigation (PN) law existing in the literature. Three stages are used with different values of the Navigation gains of PN law to intercept the target moving in any given direction. To calculate the final position of each phase, a geometric based optimal path calculation technique has been adopted. Another important factor of this guidance law is that the lateral acceleration bound has also been taken into account in designing the guidance law. The simulation results show that the presented scheme performs better than the existing work in literature based on the Sliding Mode Control (SMC).