SkyRoute — AI-Powered Helicopter Logistics Optimization

Overview

SkyRoute is a mission-planning framework for rotary-wing (helicopter) operations. Given a set of tasks — a pickup, a delivery, a patrol, a logistics run — it computes routes that are feasible under the physical and operational constraints of the aircraft while minimizing cost metrics like fuel, time, or exposure.

The Problem

Traditional manual mission planning struggles with the combinatorial complexity of real-world constraints: terrain clearance, fuel burn at altitude, restricted airspace, payload limits, crew duty cycles, and weather windows. Small changes to any input require re-planning from scratch, and the planner often settles for the first feasible route rather than an optimal one.

My Role & Contribution

• Designed the constraint model and cost function formulation
• Implemented the optimization core and integration with terrain and weather data
• Built tooling for visualizing candidate routes and interactive what-if planning

Approach

• Model the mission as a constrained shortest-path / vehicle-routing problem on a discretized spatial graph
• Layer operational constraints (fuel, payload, altitude, restricted zones) as hard and soft constraints
• Apply optimization techniques suited to the problem scale — heuristic search, OR-Tools, or custom solvers
• Visualize candidate routes for operator review and interactive refinement

Tech Stack

Results & Impact

• Produces feasible, cost-optimal routes where prior manual planning settled for first-feasible
• Enables rapid re-planning when inputs change (fuel availability, weather windows, task priority)