A co-evolutionary method for pursuit–evasion games with non-zero lethal radii

This study suggests a co-evolutionary method for solving pursuit–evasion games with consideration of non-zero lethal radii. The proposed method has three key features. First, it can handle both the final time problem and the miss distance problem simultaneously, by adopting a separated payoff function. Second, the Stackelberg equilibrium instead of the security strategy solution is employed to consider the maximum characteristics of an open-loop solution. Finally, an additional evolving group is introduced to treat an unprescribed final time. Numerical simulations are performed to verify the proposed method by comparing it with the gradient-based method. In addition, the effect of lethal radius is discussed based on the numerical results.