A TRAJECTORY PLANNING METHOD FOR FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT IN STATIC NO-FLY ZONE ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract

To address the difficulty of simultaneously satisfying heading continuity, minimum turning-radius constraints, and safe obstacle avoidance in trajectory planning for fixed-wing aircraft operating in static no-fly zone (NFZ) environments, a horizontal trajectory planning model is formulated by incorporating position, heading, curvature constraints, and safety margins around NFZs. A planning method combining weighted kinematic A* with Dubins terminal connection is then proposed. The method jointly represents planar position and heading angle as the search state and expands nodes using constant-curvature motion primitives that satisfy the prescribed curvature constraints. A weighted Dubins distance is employed to guide the search toward the target, while a Dubins curve is used within the target neighborhood to connect the current state to the desired terminal state. Simulation results demonstrate that, in scenarios involving multiple circular NFZs, the proposed method can generate continuous collision-free trajectories that satisfy the prescribed initial and terminal headings, safety-clearance requirements, and minimum turning-radius constraints. The resulting trajectory length increases only moderately relative to the straight-line distance, while the explored nodes are primarily concentrated near feasible passages. These results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method for trajectory planning of fixed-wing aircraft in static NFZ environments.