Integrated Hybrid Planning and Programmed Control for Real-Time UAV Maneuvering

The automatic generation of realistic behaviour such as tactical intercepts for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) in air combat is a challenging problem. State-of-the-art solutions propose handś crafted algorithms and heuristics whose performance depends heavily on the initial conditions and aerodynamic properties of the UAVs involved. This paper shows how to employ domainśindependent planners, embedded into professional multiśagent simulations, to implement twoślevel Model Predictive Control (MPC) hybrid control systems for simulated UAVs. We compare the performance of controllers using planners with others based on behaviour trees that implement real world tactics. Our results indicate that hybrid planners derive novel and efective tactics from irst principles inherent to the dynamical constraints UAVs are subject to.