Four-Dimensional Trajectory Planning Algorithm for Fixed-Wing Aircraft Formation Based on Improved Hunter—Prey Optimization

Abstract

The aircraft four-dimensional trajectory planning is an important technology for multiple aircraft to achieve cooperation. However, the current four-dimensional trajectory planning technology is mainly used for civil aviation and helicopters and is difficult to meet the requirements of fixed-wing aircraft. This paper proposed a four-dimensional trajectory planning algorithm for a fixed-wing aircraft formation, considering the speed range, turning radius and maximum overload. The improved tau-J strategy (ITJS) is used to generate the four-dimensional trajectory of the aircraft. This strategy is a bio-inspired trajectory planning algorithm that can generate a four-dimensional trajectory with continuous acceleration. Furthermore, the improved hunter–prey optimization (IHPO) algorithm is used to optimize the trajectory to make the generated trajectory meet the constraints and speed up the algorithm convergence. This algorithm improves the updated strategy and initialization strategy based on the hunter–prey optimization (HPO) algorithm, which prevents the algorithm from falling into local optima. The results of the benchmark test function show that the optimization result of the algorithm is improved by more than 10% compared with the original HPO algorithm. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm jumps out of local optima and generates a trajectory that meets the constraints.