Trajectory generation for quadrotor while tracking a moving target in cluttered environment

In this paper, we present a trajectory generation method for quadrotor while tracking a moving target with relative pattern. Compared to existing methods, safe flying zone, vehicle’s physical limits and smoothness are considered to ensure obstacles avoidance and real tracking flight. To tackle with the cluttered environment, a parallel Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm is applied to calculate the safe feasible waypoints for quadrotor with consideration of target’s predicted state and the realistic tracking pattern, as well as safety. Then, a multiple waypoints constraints motion planning method is applied and embed into a cost function for solving the problem of trajectories generation and robust tracking for quadrotor via convex optimization approach, ensuring the real-time planning, with the geometrical constraint of safe flight corridor for quadrotor. The effectiveness of proposed method is verified by numerical simulation experiments.