Optimal Dubins Paths to Intercept a Moving Target on a Circle

Abstract

We present a path planning problem for a pursuer to intercept a cooperating target traveling on a circle. The pursuer considered here has limited yaw rate, and therefore its path should satisfy the kinematic constraints. We assume that the distance between initial position of the pursuer and any point on the target circle is greater than four times the minimum turn radius of the pursuer. We prove the continuity of the length of the Dubins paths of type Circle-Straight line-Circle with respect to the position on the target circle. This is used to prove that the optimal interception path is a Dubins path, and we present an iterative algorithm to find the optimal interception point on the target circle.