Trajectory optimization of airdropped loitering aerial vehicle based on gauss pseudospectral method considering the wind gradient

The trajectory optimization is significant for airdropped LAV (Loitering Aerial Vehicle) to reach the target area rapidly and to attack the time-critical target. According to the motion features of airdropped LAV, its flight path was divided into 'parachuting-diving' stage and 'loitering' stage, based on which the LAV flight model was established. In this paper, airdropped LAV flight model through the wind field was constructed as a nonlinear optimal control problem requiring minimal time fly into the target area with constraints of performance bounds and operational limitations. Thus the optimal control formulation of LAV flight was converted into a nonlinear programming problem. The SNPOT software was applied to solve the optimal route of LAV considering different wind loads and initial airdropped heights. Simulation results show that the average attack time for the optimized route is decreased by 22.45% and the energy consumption is reduced by 17.39% under specified wind gradient conditions. This verifies that the proposed method in this paper is of high significance for perfecting the mission design of the airdropped LAV.