Slot-hopping Enabled Loiter Guidance and Automation for Fixed-wing UAV Corridors

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of traffic congestion management in fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) corridors by further developing a recently introduced loiter-lane framework. A semi-cooperative guidance strategy is developed for inserting fixed-wing UAVs into a loiter lane with minimal disruption to the UAVs already operating within it, while enabling a more compact fixed-wing UAV corridor. Building on the concepts of cooperative and non-disruptive loiter-lane insertion, the proposed strategy makes the incoming UAV first attempt, within its speed bounds, to rendezvous with an existing empty loiter slot. If direct insertion is infeasible, a minimal number of loitering UAVs perform coordinated slot hopping to create a suitably positioned empty slot. The feasibility and performance of the method are demonstrated through numerical simulations.