Application of Artificial Potential Field Method in Three-Dimensional Path Planning for UAV Considering 5G Communication

Maintaining robust communication between UAV(Unmanned aerial vehicle) and host computers is pivotal for ensuring the security and reliability of UAV in executing automated tasks. The advent of 5G, the latest generation of mobile communication technology, presents an opportunity to establish low-latency and high-reliability communication links between UAV and host computers. While automatic flight schemes of UAV are typically calculated through three-dimensional path planning, existing schemes often overlook the communication quality between UAV and the host computer during flight execution. This study proposes a novel approach to three-dimensional path planning that integrates considerations of 5G communication intensity into the traditional artificial potential field (APF) method. Utilizing ray tracing method, the average 5G communication intensity within a given region is computed, and areas with optimal average 5G communication quality are identified as 5G secondary gravitational points. These points guide the UAV’s three-dimensional path toward regions with superior 5G communication quality. To address the challenge of local minimum traps inherent in traditional APF methods, this study proposes employing a fuzzy control algorithm to generate auxiliary forces, enabling UAV to avoid such traps proactively. Simulation experiments conducted using MatlabR2023b validate the efficacy of the proposed approach. Results demonstrate that the enhanced APF method effectively mitigates local minimum problems, albeit with a marginal increase in average path length (13.7769%). Notably, the average path’s 5G communication intensity experiences a substantial improvement (20.7919%), indicating that the algorithm prioritizes enhancing communication quality at the expense of slightly longer paths. Moreover, in scenarios with severe signal masking at the transmitter, the algorithm exhibits even greater improvements in average path 5G communication intensity.