Optimal ballistic trajectories under meteorological conditions: artificial neural networks approach

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive study on determining an optimal launch angle for the projectile trajectory with considering meteorological conditions. First, the optimization problem for the optimal launch angle is shown with presence of the meteorological conditions. Next, the methodology scheme based on artificial neural networks is designed in detail. The methodology includes two neural network models, the first one is for approximation of the projectile trajectory and the latter is for the launch angle optimization. Moreover, the convergence of the proposed method is also presented and discussed. In this paper, the simulation is built on a large test set to compare the performance between the proposed method and existing algorithms. The simulation results show that the proposed method and a variant of it produce significantly better results than existing algorithms. Finally, it is emphasized that this study not only contributes to military benefits but also contributes to many applications in aerospace, sports, and other fields requiring the precise ballistic trajectory.