Trajectory Tracking and Payload Dropping of an Unmanned Quadrotor Helicopter Based on GS-PID and Backstepping Control

Two useful control techniques, the Gain-Scheduled Proportional-Integral-Derivative (GS-PID) control and backstepping control, have been applied by using quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in the applications of trajectory tracking and payload dropping operations in this thesis. These control algorithms are analyzed and verified through software simulations and experimental tests. The dynamic model of the quadrotor UAV is firstly established using Newton-Euler laws. The quadrotor comes with a symmetric, nonlinear and multiple-input-multiple output (MIMO) dynamic model. The GS-PID control algorithm is implemented firstly in take-off, trajectory tracking, payload dropping, and landing periods of flight in trajectory tracking and payload dropping scenarios. Unlike other control algorithms that tend to linearize nonlinear systems, backstepping works without cancelling the nonlinearities in the system. This leads to more flexible designs of the control model. The backstepping control is implemented in this thesis for better performance of the quadrotor UAV for the two scenarios as well. Both control algorithms are implemented on the parameters of an unmanned quadrotor helicopter platform known as Qball-X4 available at the Networked Autonomous Vehicles Lab (NAVL) of Concordia University. Using MATLAB/Simulink to build the simulation control model, the flight simulation of the Qball-X4 is carried out for the trajectory tracking and the payload dropping. In order to further investigate these two control approaches, the Qball-X4 is used for experimental verification on payload dropping performance. The results indicate that both algorithms can obtain acceptable performance, but the backstepping controller proves to be a better performed one

Automatic Flight Control Systems

The history of flight control is inseparably linked to the history of aviation itself. Since the early days, the concept of automatic flight control systems has evolved from mechanical control systems to highly advanced automatic fly-by-wire flight control systems which can be found nowadays in military jets and civil airliners. Even today, many research efforts are made for the further development of these flight control systems in various aspects. Recent new developments in this field focus on a wealth of different aspects. This book focuses on a selection of key research areas, such as inertial navigation, control of unmanned aircraft and helicopters, trajectory control of an unmanned space re-entry vehicle, aeroservoelastic control, adaptive flight control, and fault tolerant flight control. This book consists of two major sections. The first section focuses on a literature review and some recent theoretical developments in flight control systems. The second section discusses some concepts of adaptive and fault-tolerant flight control systems. Each technique discussed in this book is illustrated by a relevant example

Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technologies and Operations

As the quarter-century mark in the 21st Century nears, new aviation-related equipment has come to the forefront, both to help us and to haunt us. (Coutu, 2020) This is particularly the case with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These vehicles have grown in popularity and accessible to everyone. Of different shapes and sizes, they are widely available for purchase at relatively low prices. They have moved from the backyard recreation status to important tools for the military, intelligence agencies, and corporate organizations. New practical applications such as military equipment and weaponry are announced on a regular basis – globally. (Coutu, 2020) Every country seems to be announcing steps forward in this bludgeoning field. In our successful 2nd edition of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the Cyber Domain: Protecting USA’s Advanced Air Assets (Nichols, et al., 2019), the authors addressed three factors influencing UAS phenomena. First, unmanned aircraft technology has seen an economic explosion in production, sales, testing, specialized designs, and friendly / hostile usages of deployed UAS / UAVs / Drones. There is a huge global growing market and entrepreneurs know it. Second, hostile use of UAS is on the forefront of DoD defense and offensive planners. They are especially concerned with SWARM behavior. Movies like “Angel has Fallen,” where drones in a SWARM use facial recognition technology to kill USSS agents protecting POTUS, have built the lore of UAS and brought the problem forefront to DHS. Third, UAS technology was exploding. UAS and Counter- UAS developments in navigation, weapons, surveillance, data transfer, fuel cells, stealth, weight distribution, tactics, GPS / GNSS elements, SCADA protections, privacy invasions, terrorist uses, specialized software, and security protocols has exploded. (Nichols, et al., 2019) Our team has followed / tracked joint ventures between military and corporate entities and specialized labs to build UAS countermeasures. As authors, we felt compelled to address at least the edge of some of the new C-UAS developments. It was clear that we would be lucky if we could cover a few of – the more interesting and priority technology updates – all in the UNCLASSIFIED and OPEN sphere. Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Technologies and Operations is the companion textbook to our 2nd edition. The civilian market is interesting and entrepreneurial, but the military and intelligence markets are of concern because the US does NOT lead the pack in C-UAS technologies. China does. China continues to execute its UAS proliferation along the New Silk Road Sea / Land routes (NSRL). It has maintained a 7% growth in military spending each year to support its buildup. (Nichols, et al., 2019) [Chapter 21]. They continue to innovate and have recently improved a solution for UAS flight endurance issues with the development of advanced hydrogen fuel cell. (Nichols, et al., 2019) Reed and Trubetskoy presented a terrifying map of countries in the Middle East with armed drones and their manufacturing origin. Guess who? China. (A.B. Tabriski & Justin, 2018, December) Our C-UAS textbook has as its primary mission to educate and train resources who will enter the UAS / C-UAS field and trust it will act as a call to arms for military and DHS planners.https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1031/thumbnail.jp

On power line positioning systems

Power line infrastructure is available almost everywhere. Positioning systems aim to estimate where a device or target is. Consequently, there may be an opportunity to use power lines for positioning purposes. This survey article reports the different efforts, working principles, and possibilities for implementing positioning systems relying on power line infrastructure for power line positioning systems (PLPS). Since Power Line Communication (PLC) systems of different characteristics have been deployed to provide communication services using the existing mains, we also address how PLC systems may be employed to build positioning systems. Although some efforts exist, PLPS are still prospective and thus open to research and development, and we try to indicate the possible directions and potential applications for PLPS.European Commissio

Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the Cyber Domain

Unmanned Aircraft Systems are an integral part of the US national critical infrastructure. The authors have endeavored to bring a breadth and quality of information to the reader that is unparalleled in the unclassified sphere. This textbook will fully immerse and engage the reader / student in the cyber-security considerations of this rapidly emerging technology that we know as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The first edition topics covered National Airspace (NAS) policy issues, information security (INFOSEC), UAS vulnerabilities in key systems (Sense and Avoid / SCADA), navigation and collision avoidance systems, stealth design, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms; weapons systems security; electronic warfare considerations; data-links, jamming, operational vulnerabilities and still-emerging political scenarios that affect US military / commercial decisions. This second edition discusses state-of-the-art technology issues facing US UAS designers. It focuses on counter unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) – especially research designed to mitigate and terminate threats by SWARMS. Topics include high-altitude platforms (HAPS) for wireless communications; C-UAS and large scale threats; acoustic countermeasures against SWARMS and building an Identify Friend or Foe (IFF) acoustic library; updates to the legal / regulatory landscape; UAS proliferation along the Chinese New Silk Road Sea / Land routes; and ethics in this new age of autonomous systems and artificial intelligence (AI).https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1027/thumbnail.jp

Vision-Based Control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Automated Structural Monitoring and Geo-Structural Analysis of Civil Infrastructure Systems

The emergence of wireless sensors capable of sensing, embedded computing, and wireless communication has provided an affordable means of monitoring large-scale civil infrastructure systems with ease. To date, the majority of the existing monitoring systems, including those based on wireless sensors, are stationary with measurement nodes installed without an intention for relocation later. Many monitoring applications involving structural and geotechnical systems require a high density of sensors to provide sufficient spatial resolution to their assessment of system performance. While wireless sensors have made high density monitoring systems possible, an alternative approach would be to empower the mobility of the sensors themselves to transform wireless sensor networks (WSNs) into mobile sensor networks (MSNs). In doing so, many benefits would be derived including reducing the total number of sensors needed while introducing the ability to learn from the data obtained to improve the location of sensors installed. One approach to achieving MSNs is to integrate the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into the monitoring application. UAV-based MSNs have the potential to transform current monitoring practices by improving the speed and quality of data collected while reducing overall system costs. The efforts of this study have been chiefly focused upon using autonomous UAVs to deploy, operate, and reconfigure MSNs in a fully autonomous manner for field monitoring of civil infrastructure systems. This study aims to overcome two main challenges pertaining to UAV-enabled wireless monitoring: the need for high-precision localization methods for outdoor UAV navigation and facilitating modes of direct interaction between UAVs and their built or natural environments. A vision-aided UAV positioning algorithm is first introduced to augment traditional inertial sensing techniques to enhance the ability of UAVs to accurately localize themselves in a civil infrastructure system for placement of wireless sensors. Multi-resolution fiducial markers indicating sensor placement locations are applied to the surface of a structure, serving as navigation guides and precision landing targets for a UAV carrying a wireless sensor. Visual-inertial fusion is implemented via a discrete-time Kalman filter to further increase the robustness of the relative position estimation algorithm resulting in localization accuracies of 10 cm or smaller. The precision landing of UAVs that allows the MSN topology change is validated on a simple beam with the UAV-based MSN collecting ambient response data for extraction of global mode shapes of the structure. The work also explores the integration of a magnetic gripper with a UAV to drop defined weights from an elevation to provide a high energy seismic source for MSNs engaged in seismic monitoring applications. Leveraging tailored visual detection and precise position control techniques for UAVs, the work illustrates the ability of UAVs to—in a repeated and autonomous fashion—deploy wireless geophones and to introduce an impulsive seismic source for in situ shear wave velocity profiling using the spectral analysis of surface waves (SASW) method. The dispersion curve of the shear wave profile of the geotechnical system is shown nearly equal between the autonomous UAV-based MSN architecture and that taken by a traditional wired and manually operated SASW data collection system. The developments and proof-of-concept systems advanced in this study will extend the body of knowledge of robot-deployed MSN with the hope of extending the capabilities of monitoring systems while eradicating the need for human interventions in their design and use.PHDCivil EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/169980/1/zhh_1.pd

Reducing Communication Delay Variability for a Group of Robots

A novel architecture is presented for reducing communication delay variability for a group of robots. This architecture relies on using three components: a microprocessor architecture that allows deterministic real-time tasks; an event-based communication protocol in which nodes transmit in a TDMA fashion, without the need of global clock synchronization techniques; and a novel communication scheme that enables deterministic communications by allowing senders to transmit without regard for the state of the medium or coordination with other senders, and receivers can tease apart messages sent simultaneously with a high probability of success. This approach compared to others, allows simultaneous communications without regard for the state of the transmission medium, it allows deterministic communications, and it enables ordered communications that can be a applied in a team of robots. Simulations and experimental results are also included

Aerial Robotics for Inspection and Maintenance

Aerial robots with perception, navigation, and manipulation capabilities are extending the range of applications of drones, allowing the integration of different sensor devices and robotic manipulators to perform inspection and maintenance operations on infrastructures such as power lines, bridges, viaducts, or walls, involving typically physical interactions on flight. New research and technological challenges arise from applications demanding the benefits of aerial robots, particularly in outdoor environments. This book collects eleven papers from different research groups from Spain, Croatia, Italy, Japan, the USA, the Netherlands, and Denmark, focused on the design, development, and experimental validation of methods and technologies for inspection and maintenance using aerial robots

Proceedings of the 9th Conference on Autonomous Robot Systems and Competitions

Welcome to ROBOTICA 2009. This is the 9th edition of the conference on Autonomous Robot Systems and Competitions, the third time with IEEE‐Robotics and Automation Society Technical Co‐Sponsorship. Previous editions were held since 2001 in Guimarães, Aveiro, Porto, Lisboa, Coimbra and Algarve. ROBOTICA 2009 is held on the 7th May, 2009, in Castelo Branco , Portugal. ROBOTICA has received 32 paper submissions, from 10 countries, in South America, Asia and Europe. To evaluate each submission, three reviews by paper were performed by the international program committee. 23 papers were published in the proceedings and presented at the conference. Of these, 14 papers were selected for oral presentation and 9 papers were selected for poster presentation. The global acceptance ratio was 72%. After the conference, eighth papers will be published in the Portuguese journal Robótica, and the best student paper will be published in IEEE Multidisciplinary Engineering Education Magazine. Three prizes will be awarded in the conference for: the best conference paper, the best student paper and the best presentation. The last two, sponsored by the IEEE Education Society ‐ Student Activities Committee. We would like to express our thanks to all participants. First of all to the authors, whose quality work is the essence of this conference. Next, to all the members of the international program committee and reviewers, who helped us with their expertise and valuable time. We would also like to deeply thank the invited speaker, Jean Paul Laumond, LAAS‐CNRS France, for their excellent contribution in the field of humanoid robots. Finally, a word of appreciation for the hard work of the secretariat and volunteers. Our deep gratitude goes to the Scientific Organisations that kindly agreed to sponsor the Conference, and made it come true. We look forward to seeing more results of R&D work on Robotics at ROBOTICA 2010, somewhere in Portugal