526 research outputs found
Body-centric modelling, identification, and acceleration tracking control of a quadrotor UAV
This paper presents the mathematical development of a body-centric nonlinear dynamic model of a quadrotor UAV that is suitable for the development of biologically
inspired navigation strategies. Analytical approximations are used to find an initial guess of the parameters of the nonlinear model, then parameter estimation methods are used to refine the model parameters using the data obtained from onboard sensors during flight. Due to the unstable nature of the quadrotor model, the identification process is performed with the system in closed-loop control of attitude angles. The obtained model parameters are validated using real unseen experimental data. Based on the identified model, a Linear-Quadratic (LQ) optimal tracker is designed to stabilize the quadrotor and facilitate its translational control by tracking body accelerations. The LQ tracker is
tested on an experimental quadrotor UAV and the obtained results are a further means to validate the quality of the estimated model. The unique formulation of the control problem in the body frame makes the controller better suited for bio-inspired navigation and guidance strategies than conventional attitude or position based control systems that can be found in the existing literature
Gaussian Process Model Predictive Control of An Unmanned Quadrotor
The Model Predictive Control (MPC) trajectory tracking problem of an unmanned
quadrotor with input and output constraints is addressed. In this article, the
dynamic models of the quadrotor are obtained purely from operational data in
the form of probabilistic Gaussian Process (GP) models. This is different from
conventional models obtained through Newtonian analysis. A hierarchical control
scheme is used to handle the trajectory tracking problem with the translational
subsystem in the outer loop and the rotational subsystem in the inner loop.
Constrained GP based MPC are formulated separately for both subsystems. The
resulting MPC problems are typically nonlinear and non-convex. We derived 15 a
GP based local dynamical model that allows these optimization problems to be
relaxed to convex ones which can be efficiently solved with a simple active-set
algorithm. The performance of the proposed approach is compared with an
existing unconstrained Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC). Simulation
results show that the two approaches exhibit similar trajectory tracking
performance. However, our approach has the advantage of incorporating
constraints on the control inputs. In addition, our approach only requires 20%
of the computational time for NMPC.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1612.0121
A survey on fractional order control techniques for unmanned aerial and ground vehicles
In recent years, numerous applications of science and engineering for modeling and control of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) systems based on fractional calculus have been realized. The extra fractional order derivative terms allow to optimizing the performance of the systems. The review presented in this paper focuses on the control problems of the UAVs and UGVs that have been addressed by the fractional order techniques over the last decade
Generalized Proportional Integral Control for an Unmanned Quadrotor System
In this article, a generalized proportional integral (GPI) control approach is presented for regulation and trajectory tracking problems in a nonlinear, multivariable quadrotor system model. In the feedback control law, no asymptotic observers or time discretizations are needed in the feedback loop. The GPI controller guarantees the asymptotically and exponentially stable behaviour of the controlled quadrotor position and orientation, as well as the possibilities of carrying out trajectory tracking tasks. The simulation results presented in the paper show that the proposed method exhibits very good stabilization and tracking performance in the presence of atmospheric disturbances and noise measurements
Transfer Learning-Based Crack Detection by Autonomous UAVs
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have recently shown great performance
collecting visual data through autonomous exploration and mapping in building
inspection. Yet, the number of studies is limited considering the post
processing of the data and its integration with autonomous UAVs. These will
enable huge steps onward into full automation of building inspection. In this
regard, this work presents a decision making tool for revisiting tasks in
visual building inspection by autonomous UAVs. The tool is an implementation of
fine-tuning a pretrained Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for surface crack
detection. It offers an optional mechanism for task planning of revisiting
pinpoint locations during inspection. It is integrated to a quadrotor UAV
system that can autonomously navigate in GPS-denied environments. The UAV is
equipped with onboard sensors and computers for autonomous localization,
mapping and motion planning. The integrated system is tested through
simulations and real-world experiments. The results show that the system
achieves crack detection and autonomous navigation in GPS-denied environments
for building inspection
- …