The Velocity Assignment Problem for Conflict Resolution with Multiple Aerial Vehicles Sharing Airspace

Efficient conflict resolution methods for multiple aerial vehicles sharing airspace are presented. The problem of assigning a velocity profile to each aerial vehicle in real time, such that the separation between them is greater than a given safety distance, is considered and the total deviation from the initial planned trajectory is minimized. The proposed methods involve the use of appropriate airspace discretization. In the paper it is demonstrated that this aerial vehicle velocity assignment problem is NP-hard. Then, the paper presents three different collision detection and resolution methods based on speed planning. The paper also presents simulations and studies for several scenarios.