Flight management of multiple aerial vehicles using genetic algorithms

Flight management system (FMS) plays an important role in automatic and fuel-efficient flight from take-off to landing and reducing the pilot's workload. Path planning and tracking are two major functions of FMS. Most flight control algorithms assume that reference trajectory is available, which is not the case in real world. In this paper we introduce a new FMS that not only generates the optimal trajectory but also produces smooth control action for path tracking. Genetic algorithms (GAs) is used to generate the optimal flight path when the target positions are given. Unknown obstacles also are considered. A memory based control strategy is developed to steer the vehicle along the generated trajectory, which can be dynamically adjusted according to the varying flight conditions. Simulation is conducted for verification