Generate Trajectories and Reference Signals
Generate flight trajectories for flight path calculations, waypoint navigations, and other flight applications using the Aerospace Blockset™ Generate Trajectory live task, or programmatically using the corresponding trajectory generation functions. The Generate Trajectory live task and functions create these standard flight trajectories.
| Trajectory Type | Function | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generates sector search trajectory reference signals. |
| |
| Generate reference signals for an expanding square search pattern. | ||
| Generate reference signals for trackline search patterns. | Trackline trajectory with return: Trackline trajectory with no return: | |
| Generate reference signals for a parallel sweep search trajectory. | ||
| Generate trajectory reference signals for a creeping line search pattern. | ||
| Generate trajectory reference signals for a polyline flight trajectory. | ||
| Generate reference signals for tracing Bezier trajectories. | ||
| Generate reference signals for tracing a trajectory that consists of multiple circular arcs. | ||
| Generates reference signals for tracing a polynomial trajectory. | ||
In addition, to programmatically add events to a generated trajectory, use the Aero.trajectory.addEvent function. The Signal
Editor task enables you to interactively create trajectories, generate
corresponding reference signals, and add events. The task automatically generates code
that calls the appropriate function.
Use the output from the live task or function as input to your model. For example, you can input the results to the Signal Editor block, and then use the Signal Editor tool to manipulate the signal data before sending it elsewhere in the model, such as to a 6DOF block.
Aerospace Blockset flight trajectory documentation uses these terms and concepts.
path — Route or course that a flying vehicle follows as it moves through space. There is no time dimension when defining a path.
trajectory — Path that an object follows as it moves through space over time.
vehicle parameter — Property of an individual vehicle, such as its position, heading at a specific time, or constant speed.
path parameter — Property of the path, such as the number of legs or the datum point in a search pattern.
reference signal — Ideal time-varying signal that a control system must track for the vehicle to follow the desired trajectory.
continuous trajectories — Smooth, uninterrupted path through space and time, defined mathematically by continuous functions. Use these trajectories for applications that require smooth, natural, or precise motion, such as robotics, vehicle navigation, and animation.
Circular, polynomial, and Bezier trajectories are continuous.
discontinuous trajectories — Path through space and time with abrupt changes, jumps, or undefined segments, which lack the smoothness of continuous trajectories. Use these trajectories when trajectory smoothness is not a primary concern, such as in large-scale trajectory planning over several kilometers, where local smoothness at each waypoint is not critical, or when the vehicle control system can accommodate discontinuous trajectories.
Sector search, expanding square search, trackline search, parallel sweep search, creeping line search, and polyline trajectories are discontinuous.
flight and vehicle constraints — The limitations or conditions that a vehicle must adhere to during its operation. These constraints are crucial for ensuring safety, efficiency, and compliance with regulations.
lateral, longitudinal, and directional planes — In Aerospace Blockset, directional planes are defined as perpendicular to the corresponding axis. The vertical axis is also known as the directional axis. In terms of the NED frame, these axes are:
Lateral — zx plane
Longitudinal — yz plane
Directional — xy plane
Flight trajectory supports the NED coordinate system.
Limitations
Flight trajectory support has these limitations:
The software does not support reference signals of environment variables, such as Pressure, Temperature, and Humidity, that are derived from control signals of the trajectory.
Trajectory functions do not support event-based reference signals. Reference signals change at certain timestamps. In event-based reference signals, reference signals change value when certain events are triggered. The software does not support these event-based reference signals.
The software does not support the concatenation of heterogeneous trajectories, such as a continuous trajectory followed by a discontiguous trajectory, or vice versa.
See Also
Functions
Aero.trajectory.addEvent|Aero.trajectory.bezierTrajectory|Aero.trajectory.tracklineTrajectory|Aero.trajectory.circularTrajectory|Aero.trajectory.creepingTrajectory|Aero.trajectory.expandingSquareTrajectory|Aero.trajectory.parallelSweepTrajectory|Aero.trajectory.polylineTrajectory|Aero.trajectory.polynomialTrajectory|Aero.trajectory.sectorTrajectory
