An Optimal L1 Navigation Design Framework for Constrained Heading Control and Coordination

L₁ navigation is widely used for path following. In this paper, it is applied to the heading control and coordination in constrained scenarios. A dedicated optimization framework, which can be tailored to requirements of different problems, is developed to determine the optimal L₁ subject to geometric constraints, control inequality constraints and other constraints on demand. Moreover, the cost function may be designed flexibly. In the first application study, the time- and energy-minimum cost functions are selected respectively in the two cases of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) runway alignment. In addition, the proposed framework is capable of determining proper L₁ values for coordinative guidance, and it is validated in the second application study where multiple UAVs achieve a simultaneous alignment. Simulation results demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed framework.