Pursuit-evasion games in dynamic flow fields via reachability set analysis

Abstract

In this paper, we adopt a reachability-based approach to deal with the pursuit-evasion differential game between two players in the presence of dynamic environmental disturbances (e.g., winds, sea currents). We give conditions for the game to be terminated in terms of reachable set inclusions. Level set equations are defined and solved to generate the reachable sets of the pursuer and the evader. The corresponding time-optimal trajectories and optimal strategies can be readily retrieved afterwards. We validate our method by applying it to a pursuit-evasion game in a simple flow field, for which an analytical solution is available. We then implement the proposed scheme to a problem with a more realistic flow field.