Thursday, March 28, 2019

newtonian mechanics - How long does it take to optimally change position and velocity?


A spaceship moving in two dimensions is at position (x,y) and has a velocity (vx,vy). It also has a maximum acceleration amax. Its goal is to be at position (x,y) with a velocity of (vx,yx). What path takes the smallest amount of time?


I see that the problem can be reduced to a spaceship at (0,0) with a velocity of (0,0), trying to intercept a object currently at (xx,yy) with a velocity of (vxvx,yxyx).


I have a hunch that the optimal path will always be constant acceleration in one direction, possibly with a reversal somewhere along the way.


I'm curious because I believe the total time will be a consistent and admissable heuristic for a Newtonian pathing algorithm that takes velocity into account.


Clarification



There are no additional constraints. The problem is to minimize time, not to conserve Δv.




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