An Optimal Strategy for Off-Board Proximal Sensing of a Target: Part 2

This work considers a two-actor scenario of a faster, unmanned turn-constrained pursuer with an engagement zone (EZ) and a non-maneuvering mobile evader. The pursuer aims to capture an evader with a circular EZ. The pursuer’s EZ is dynamic and shifts as a function of the evader’s velocity vector magnitude and direction. Using nonlinear optimal control techniques, the optimal trajectory and minimum time to engage the evader are determined for various pursuer initial headings and positions through MATLAB simulation. The results build a control strategy given the scenario, with analytic solution validation. Results lay a foundation to model pursuer-evader capture scenarios with a dynamic EZ, leading to general guidelines for real-time control strategies. Finally, an algorithm to find a dispersal surface in any pursuer/evader scenario establishes a comparison angle for the pursuer to guarantee optimal turn direction to engage the evader.