Online Terrain Following Scheme Combining Cubic Spline and Model Predictive Control

A terrain following flight scheme is presented. Considering the lack of optimality of online schemes and real-time performance of offline schemes, we optimize cubic spline path for terrain following flight based on onboard forward-looking radar detection, then cast as reference and use MPC algorithm to achieve effective path tracking. In both path planning and path tracking, the maneuvering performance constraints are concerned. The simulation for scheme verification is carried out on a thorough fixed-wing aircraft dynamics model. The results show that the online path optimization is promising and MPC controller can keep the aircraft on reference track accurately, which meets the specifications of the terrain following settings.