Quality-guaranteed Dubins Path Planning for USV Based on Mixed-integer Piecewise-linear Programming for Addressing the Extended Minimum-time Intercept Problem

Xing Zhou , Kelin Zhu , Shuang Liu , Zhaoqing Li , Wenxin Zhang , Kang Du

Journal of Marine Science and Application ›› 2026, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (1) : 216 -227.

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Journal of Marine Science and Application ›› 2026, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (1) :216 -227. DOI: 10.1007/s11804-025-00759-5
Research Article
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Quality-guaranteed Dubins Path Planning for USV Based on Mixed-integer Piecewise-linear Programming for Addressing the Extended Minimum-time Intercept Problem

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Abstract

During the use of robotics in applications such as antiterrorism or combat, a motion-constrained pursuer vehicle, such as a Dubins unmanned surface vehicle (USV), must get close enough (within a prescribed zero or positive distance) to a moving target as quickly as possible, resulting in the extended minimum-time intercept problem (EMTIP). Existing research has primarily focused on the zero-distance intercept problem, MTIP, establishing the necessary or sufficient conditions for MTIP optimality, and utilizing analytic algorithms, such as root-finding algorithms, to calculate the optimal solutions. However, these approaches depend heavily on the properties of the analytic algorithm, making them inapplicable when problem settings change, such as in the case of a positive effective range or complicated target motions outside uniform rectilinear motion. In this study, an approach employing a high-accuracy and quality-guaranteed mixed-integer piecewise-linear program (QG-PWL) is proposed for the EMTIP. This program can accommodate different effective interception ranges and complicated target motions (variable velocity or complicated trajectories). The high accuracy and quality guarantees of QG-PWL originate from elegant strategies such as piecewise linearization and other developed operation strategies. The approximate error in the intercept path length is proved to be bounded to

h2/(42)
, where h is the piecewise length.

Keywords

Minimum-time intercept problem / Dubins vehicle / Mixed-integer piecewise-linear program / Linearization / Approximate error / trigonometric function / USV

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Xing Zhou, Kelin Zhu, Shuang Liu, Zhaoqing Li, Wenxin Zhang, Kang Du. Quality-guaranteed Dubins Path Planning for USV Based on Mixed-integer Piecewise-linear Programming for Addressing the Extended Minimum-time Intercept Problem. Journal of Marine Science and Application, 2026, 25(1): 216-227 DOI:10.1007/s11804-025-00759-5

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Harbin Engineering University and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

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