Patent ID: 7366593

Claim:
A method of maneuvering a movable object, comprising: setting a planned route of the movable object and a destination point on the planned route; calculating a thrust value in real time which minimizes or maximizes a performance index, over a specified period of time from a present time to a future time, associated with one or more state variables and thrust required for the movable object to reach the destination point; controlling the movable object to cause the movable object to output the thrust of the calculated thrust value to move the movable object; and setting constraint of the movable object on the planned route by setting weights for the state variables and the thrust, wherein the performance index is a function of variables including the weighted state variables and the weighted thrust; and wherein one or more transit points are set on the planned route, and the control is performed by sequentially setting the one or more set transit points as the destination point.