Dynamic Path Planning for Parafoil Homing in Surface Wind Disturbance Environment

The parafoil is a flexible aircraft with good load characteristics and endurance. Compared with common rotor Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), its excellent gliding characteristics make it widely used in fixed-point airdrop missions in the aviation field. However, while the flexible flight structure brings excellent flight characteristics, the homing of the parafoil will be seriously disturbed by wind. This paper studies the wind disturbance problem of parafoils, and proposes a dynamic homing planning strategy derived from the forward model based on the parafoil dynamic model. Focusing on the homing process of the parafoil, the wind repulsion potential field is established for the disturbance of the low-altitude wind field by Artificial Potential Field (APF). Recursive navigation planning is carried out based on Dynamic Path Rapid-exploration Random Tree (DP-RRT). We validate the dynamic programming algorithm through simulation and experimental environments. The results show that the dynamic programming algorithm can effectively improve the parafoil homing process’s flight control stability and homing accuracy. Note to Practitioners—The parafoil is a flexible aircraft widely used in both military and civilian applications, particularly in the aviation field. For instance, by combining the characteristics of a flexible flight structure with good controllability, parafoils have been extensively researched for Mars landing missions. This paper proposes a dynamic homing planning strategy based on DP-RRT to address issues of low stability and inadequate accuracy during the parafoil homing stage. Through a model-derived homing planning method, the parafoil can effectively complete homing tasks under specific dynamic guidance conditions. More importantly, this strategy examines the unstable flight states caused by variations in control inputs during the homing process of various conventional and aviation equipment. Ultimately, a homing guidance strategy that achieves more stable control effects is proposed.