A new dynamical repulsive fractional potential for UAV in 3D dynamical environment

Abstract In recent years, applications for drones have increased, from surveillance, exploration, rescue to transport applications. UAVs are more and more autonomous, therefore real-time trajectory planning is necessary and can be achieved with potential fields. A study is proposed to better scale attractive and repulsive forces which has always been problematic when dealing with artificial potential fields. The purpose of this article is to develop a new dynamical fractional potential repulsive field usable in a 3D environment by taking into account the obstacle dynamics (position and speed) and their dangerousness. Obstacle avoidance robustness is guaranteed, both from a safety point of view and from a trajectory optimization point of view. The potential fields are based on the relative position and speed of the drone in relation to the target for the attractive potential field or to the obstacle for the repulsive one.