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Motion control of UAVs is an interesting problem due to the nonlinear and underactuacted nature of their dynamics. This paper focuses on position and yaw control of a rotary-wing UAV with state and input constraints using an inner-outer loop control structure. The outer loop generates saturated thrust and reference roll and pitch angles, while the inner loop is designed to follow the reference angles...
Night time flights are a relatively untouched field of application for small unmanned aerial systems (sUASs) in part due to the risks associated. However, there are many opportunities for agricultural, environmental or surveillance applications when night flying missions can be valuable or necessary. Undoubtedly, there are many risks associated with flying a sUAS at night that must be thoroughly addressed...
This work proposes an obstacle avoidance strategy for UAV navigation in indoor environments. The proposal is able to compute the distance among the UAV and the obstacles (which change their position dynamically), and then to select the closest one. When a collision risk is pointed out, the algorithm establish some escape points, whose orientation is aligned tangentially to the obstacle edge or to...
This paper presents a framework to deal with outdoor navigation using an AR.Drone Parrot quadrotor. The proposed system runs in a centralized computer, the ground station, responsible for the communication with the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and for synthesizing the control signals during flight missions. The outdoor navigation is performed through using a layered control architecture, where a...
This paper investigates the ability of a quadrotor to maneuver in a wind field. A dynamic model of a quadrotor is presented to model its motion. The quadrotor model includes a wind effect model to quantify the effect of wind on the dynamics of a quadrotor. A proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller is shown as a baseline controller typically used on quadrotors. A LQR controller is then shown...
The operational interface between a helicopter and a ship deck is a complex, dynamic and hazardous environment that presents a unique set of challenges to both engineers and pilots alike. Unmanned helicopters require a specific set of conditions to be met and maintained in order to commit to a landing, where large amounts of energy or large angular deviations of the ship deck can cause undesirable...
This paper describes the development of a Sense and Avoid (S&A) algorithm that can ensure an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) being able to avoid collisions autonomously. Firstly, the Closest Point of Approach (CPA) can predict the conflict. Secondly, the developed path planner generates the feasible path using differential geometric guidance and flatness techniques, where the constraints of UAV...
The work presented in this paper is part of the autonomous planning architecture of a team of aerial robots equipped with on-board robotic arms. The mission of the team is the construction of structures in places where the access is difficult by conventional means, which is the scenario considered in the framework of the ARCAS European Project. This paper presents three automatic planners in this...
This paper is about solar irradiation estimation on a solar powered UAV over its mission course [1]. Solar irradiation estimation and maximizing the solar energy collection are critical for solar powered UAVs and their performance. In this paper main focus is on solar irradiation calculations and comparison of two possible flight paths for solar energy collection during a transport or inspection mission.
We address a cooperative motion control problem for a fleet of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The problem partially decouples in two tasks: path-following and coordination control. The former requires the vehicle to converge and follow a desired path with no temporal constraints. The latter coordinates the elements in a fleet to travel on a desired pattern. In this paper we provide a practical and...
This paper addresses the cooperation of multiple aerial robots and fixed stations to monitor efficiently a perimeter divided in sub-paths with different priorities. It is not efficient to solve the problem following the elapsed time criterion and an urgency index is defined to normalize the elapsed time through the whole perimeter. The problem is defined as an allocation problem where the aerial robots...
Consider the two characteristics: (1) Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is a popular algorithm for autonomous underwater vehicle, but visual SLAM is significantly influenced by weak illumination. (2)Geomagnetism-aided navigation and gravity-aided navigation are equally important methods in the field of vehicle navigation, but both are affected heavily by time-varying noises and terrain...
This paper presents a novel solution for a typical small-scaled quad-rotor UAV to autonomously search for and land on a pre-designed marker placed on a rooftop and to observe a digit panel on the opposite building. The UAV is equipped with a downward-facing monocular camera for landing target detection and pose estimation, as well as a front-facing camera for digit panel observation and surveillance...
Micro aerial vehicles, such as multirotors, are particular well suited for the autonomous monitoring, inspection, and surveillance of buildings, e.g., for maintenance in industrial plants. Key prerequisites for the fully autonomous operation of micro aerial vehicles in complex 3D environments include real-time state estimation, obstacle detection, mapping, and navigation planning. In this paper, we...
This paper focuses on the aerodynamic design and performance of a mini airplane UAV. The mini aerial vehicle is based on a conceptual design considering a high aerodynamic finesse (a high ratio between lift and drag), flying and handling qualities in order to perform a reliable and stable flight. The equations of motion are described using the Newton-Euler formulation and the stability derivatives...
•The various state and federal attempts at legislating UAS operations use over the last two years have been inconsistent, albeit with limited threads of similarity. The focus remains on regulating government actors. Legislators continue to take a smorgasbord-style approach to applying the Fourth Amendment. Helpful clauses that would protect individual privacy in a meaningful way still seem to elude...
This paper describes the results obtained in the implementation of a solution implementing real-time precise and accurate attitude and position estimation algorithms designed for control applications based on an Android smartphone. The topic of the paper is in particular the application of this solution to dynamics sensing in a quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The attitude estimation is based...
The proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) raises a host of new security concerns. Our research resulted in a prototype UAV monitoring system, which captures flight data and performs real-time behavioral monitoring. If a behavioral anomaly is found, the system will alert the operator. In addition, a novel visualization system tracks the real time behavior and flight of multiple UAVs. Our...
This paper deals with 3D Range-Only (RO) Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM), where the UAS integrates range measurements to a number of beacons in the environment. In the recent years RO-SLAM has attracted significant interest, it is suitable for non line-of-sight conditions and/or bad lighting, being superior to visual SLAM in some problems. However, some issues constrain its applicability...
Scores of avalanche injuries and fatalities occur annually. This research presents an avalanche search and rescue (SAR) proof-of-concept option that utilizes a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) helicopter with a payload capable of detecting and locating a buried victim's cell phone. Cell phones involved in this research were modern-day fourth generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) devices with...
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