In this thesis, mathematical path planning methods for Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) are examined. The problem of visiting the determined control points and returning to the starting point has been solved. The problem is discussed in two stages. The first stage;this is to determine the order in which the control points that are given without order are to be visited. This problem, known as Traveling Salesman Problem-TSP, is defined as NP-Hard. As for the Traveling Salesman Problem the Genetic Algorithm (GA) method, an evolutionary algorithm that gives results close to the optimal solution, is used. In this solution, there are a large number of control points that are needed to be checked by a UAV and the GA determines the order in which these check points are to be navigated.The path formed by the determination of this tide sequence contains sharp turns. In the second stage of the solution, the smoothing process was applied considering the maneuverability of the UAV.As the smoothing methods, Bezier Curves, B-Spline Curves and the use of Dubins Path were examined on two sample problems and the results were compared. In order to improve the smoothing level and simulate the realistic flight route of the UAV, the rough parts that occur when using Bezier Curves are eliminated by adding imaginary control points and approached to the control points where the curve does not pass by using Bezier Curves with rational coefficients.The paths that are formed by the Quadratic (2nd degree) Bezier Curves and Dubins Path pass precisely all over the control points. The path formed thus is longer than the other methods. However, according to the purpose in the task plan, it is predicted that UAV flights may be preferred as well. The routes generated by the Cubic (3rd degree) and Quartic (4th degree) Bezier Curves pass over some of the control points while converging the others. The paths that are formed by the Quadratic, Cubic and Quartic B-Spline Curves pass over almost none of the control points except for the few of them. However, the length of the route formed is smaller. The route formed in Bezier and B-Spline Curves is shortenedas the degree increases while the average distance between controlpoints and curve increases.The advantages and disadvantages of the paths formed were determined and it was concluded that the definition of duty of the UAV would be the determinant. |