Trajectory Optimization of a Small Airship in a Moving Fluid

Abstract

Small airship offer low cost alternative for long endurance flights for telecommunications, surveillance and transport. Maneuvering in a real environment while taking into account the obstacles, the dynamical model of the airship, the wind and the energy consumption is a complex problem. This paper will present the dynamical model of a small airship and its experimental characterization, followed by the description of the path planning problem formulated as an optimal control problem. The problem will then be solved using a pseudo-spectral solver, implemented in the software PSOPT. This paper demonstrates that an optimal control approach can be used to generate complex and very realistic trajectories for small airships.