Online Deep Learning for Improved Trajectory Tracking of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Using Expert Knowledge

This work presents an online learning-based control method for improved trajectory tracking of unmanned aerial vehicles using both deep learning and expert knowledge. The proposed method does not require the exact model of the system to be controlled, and it is robust against variations in system dynamics as well as operational uncertainties. The learning is divided into two phases: offline (pre-)training and online (post-)training. In the former, a conventional controller performs a set of trajectories and, based on the input-output dataset, the deep neural network (DNN)-based controller is trained. In the latter, the trained DNN, which mimics the conventional controller, controls the system. Unlike the existing papers in the literature, the network is still being trained for different sets of trajectories which are not used in the training phase of DNN. Thanks to the rule-base, which contains the expert knowledge, the proposed framework learns the system dynamics and operational uncertainties in real-time. The experimental results show that the proposed online learning-based approach gives better trajectory tracking performance when compared to the only offline trained network.Comment: corrected version accepted for ICRA 201

Input uncertainty sensitivity enhanced non-singleton fuzzy logic controllers for long-term navigation of quadrotor UAVs

Input uncertainty, e.g., noise on the on-board camera and inertial measurement unit, in vision-based control of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is an inevitable problem. In order to handle input uncertainties as well as further analyze the interaction between the input and the antecedent fuzzy sets (FSs) of non-singleton fuzzy logic controllers (NSFLCs), an input uncertainty sensitivity enhanced NSFLC has been developed in robot operating system (ROS) using the C++ programming language. Based on recent advances in non-singleton inference, the centroid of the intersection of the input and antecedent FSs (Cen-NSFLC) is utilized to calculate the firing strength of each rule instead of the maximum of the intersection used in traditional NSFLC (Tra-NSFLC). An 8-shaped trajectory, consisting of straight and curved lines, is used for the real-time validation of the proposed controllers for a trajectory following problem. An accurate monocular keyframe-based visual-inertial simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) approach is used to estimate the position of the quadrotor UAV in GPS denied unknown environments. The performance of the Cen-NSFLC is compared with a conventional proportional integral derivative (PID) controller, a singleton FLC (SFLC) and a Tra-NSFLC. All controllers are evaluated for different flight speeds, thus introducing different levels of uncertainty into the control problem. Visual-inertial SLAM-based real time quadrotor UAV flight tests demonstrate that not only does the Cen-NSFLC achieve the best control performance among the four controllers, but it also shows better control performance when compared to their singleton counterparts. Considering the bias in the use of model based controllers, e.g. PID, for the control of UAVs, this paper advocates an alternative method, namely Cen-NSFLCs, in uncertain working environments

Similarity-based non-singleton fuzzy logic control for improved performance in UAVs

As non-singleton fuzzy logic controllers (NSFLCs) are capable of capturing input uncertainties, they have been effectively used to control and navigate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) recently. To further enhance the capability to handle the input uncertainty for the UAV applications, a novel NSFLC with the recently introduced similarity-based inference engine, i.e., Sim-NSFLC, is developed. In this paper, a comparative study in a 3D trajectory tracking application has been carried out using the aforementioned Sim-NSFLC and the NSFLCs with the standard as well as centroid composition-based inference engines, i.e., Sta-NSFLC and Cen-NSFLC. All the NSFLCs are developed within the robot operating system (ROS) using the C++ programming language. Extensive ROS Gazebo simulation-based experiments show that the Sim-NSFLCs can achieve better control performance for the UAVs in comparison with the Sta-NSFLCs and Cen-NSFLCs under different input noise levels

Type-2 fuzzy elliptic membership functions for modeling uncertainty

Whereas type-1 and type-2 membership functions (MFs) are the core of any fuzzy logic system, there are no performance criteria available to evaluate the goodness or correctness of the fuzzy MFs. In this paper, we make extensive analysis in terms of the capability of type-2 elliptic fuzzy MFs in modeling uncertainty. Having decoupled parameters for its support and width, elliptic MFs are unique amongst existing type-2 fuzzy MFs. In this investigation, the uncertainty distribution along the elliptic MF support is studied, and a detailed analysis is given to compare and contrast its performance with existing type-2 fuzzy MFs. Furthermore, fuzzy arithmetic operations are also investigated, and our finding is that the elliptic MF has similar features to the Gaussian and triangular MFs in addition and multiplication operations. Moreover, we have tested the prediction capability of elliptic MFs using interval type-2 fuzzy logic systems on oil price prediction problem for a data set from 2nd Jan 1985 till 25th April 2016. Throughout the simulation studies, an extreme learning machine is used to train the interval type-2 fuzzy logic system. The prediction results show that, in addition to their various advantages mentioned above, elliptic MFs have comparable prediction results when compared to Gaussian and triangular MFs. Finally, in order to test the performance of fuzzy logic controller with elliptic interval type-2 MFs, extensive real-time experiments are conducted for the 3D trajectory tracking problem of a quadrotor. We believe that the results of this study will open the doors to elliptic MFs’ wider use of real-world identification and control applications as the proposed MF is easy to interpret in addition to its unique features

Novel Levenberg–Marquardt based learning algorithm for unmanned aerial vehicles

In this paper, Levenberg–Marquardt inspired sliding mode control theory based adaptation laws are proposed to train an intelligent fuzzy neural network controller for a quadrotor aircraft. The proposed controller is used to control and stabilize a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle in the presence of periodic wind gust. A proportional-derivative controller is firstly introduced based on which fuzzy neural network is able to learn the quadrotor's control model on-line. The proposed design allows handling uncertainties and lack of modelling at a computationally inexpensive cost. The parameter update rules of the learning algorithms are derived based on a Levenberg–Marquardt inspired approach, and the proof of the stability of two proposed control laws are verified by using the Lyapunov stability theory. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed controllers extensive simulations and real-time experiments are conducted. The 3D trajectory tracking problem for a quadrotor is considered in the presence of time-varying wind conditions

Learning control of unmanned aerial vehicles using artificial intelligence-based methods

In recent years, many research activities have focused on the developments for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) due to their usefulness in providing cost-effective solutions to dangerous, dirty and dull tasks. In many applications, it is crucial for UAVs to be able to fly autonomously in uncertain environments under variable operating conditions. In such circumstances, an intelligent capability of the flight controller is a must rather than a choice. Model-free controllers propose alternative solutions to the model-based controllers without requiring a precise system's model which is often either unavailable or time-consuming to obtain. One branch of model-free methods is composed by fuzzy logic controllers (FLCs) due to their capability of delivering excellent control in the presence of uncertainties. However, one weakness of FLCs is that their parameters have to be tuned to deal efficiently with uncertainties. On the other hand, neural networks are computing models which progressively improve their performance by learning from training examples. Hence, artificial neural networks (ANNs) and deep neural networks (DNNs) propose learning approaches to enhance control strategies. Nevertheless, the main disadvantage of neural networks is that their inner workings are difficult to interpret. The limitations of fuzzy logic and neural networks were a driving force behind the creation of hybrid systems where the combination of DNN and FLC can overcome the drawbacks of each individual method. This thesis focuses on the aforementioned artificial intelligence-based control methods that enable UAVs to accurately track 3D trajectories. The investigation starts from the simplest static type-1 FLC, through interval type-2 FLC, to the most efficient novel fuzzy mapping-based controllers. In this thesis, it was demonstrated that the analytical representation of the fuzzy mapping facilitates the tuning of the parameters in FLCs. Next, the controllers based on ANNs and DNNs with learning capabilities were investigated. In this thesis, it was verified experimentally that the proposed approaches can improve real-time control performance. Finally, a novel deep fuzzy neural network framework which profoundly fuses DNN and FLC for online training was proposed and validated under a variety of operating conditions.Doctor of Philosoph

Online deep learning for improved trajectory tracking of unmanned aerial vehicles using expert knowledge

This work presents an online learning-based control method for improved trajectory tracking of unmanned aerial vehicles using both deep learning and expert knowledge. The proposed method does not require the exact model of the system to be controlled, and it is robust against variations in system dynamics as well as operational uncertainties. The learning is divided into two phases: offline (pre-)training and online (post-)training. In the former, a conventional controller performs a set of trajectories and, based on the input-output dataset, the deep neural network (DNN)-based controller is trained. In the latter, the trained DNN, which mimics the conventional controller, controls the system. Unlike the existing papers in the literature, the network is still being trained for different sets of trajectories which are not used in the training phase of DNN. Thanks to the rule-base, which contains the expert knowledge, the proposed framework learns the system dynamics and operational uncertainties in real-time. The experimental results show that the proposed online learning-based approach gives better trajectory tracking performance when compared to the only offline trained network.NRF (Natl Research Foundation, S’pore)MOE (Min. of Education, S’pore)Accepted versio

Intuit before tuning : type-1 and type-2 fuzzy logic controllers

Although a considerable amount of effort has been put in to show that fuzzy logic controllers have exceptional capabilities of dealing with uncertainty, there are still noteworthy concerns, e.g., the design of fuzzy logic controllers is an arduous task due to the lack of closed-form input–output relationships which is a limitation to interpretability of these controllers. The role of design parameters in fuzzy logic controllers, such as position, shape, and height of membership functions, is not straightforward. Motivated by the fact that the availability of an interpretable relationship from input to output will simplify the design procedure of fuzzy logic controllers, the main aims in this work are derive fuzzy mappings for both type-1 and interval type-2 fuzzy logic controllers, analyse them, and eventually benefit from such a nonlinear mapping to design fuzzy logic controllers. Thereafter, simulation and real-time experimental results support the presented theoretical findings.Accepted versio

Artificial Neural Network-Assisted Controller for Fast and Agile UAV Flight: Onboard Implementation and Experimental Results

In this work, we address fast and agile manoeuvre control problem of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) using an artificial neural network (ANN)-assisted conventional controller. Whereas the need for having almost perfect control accuracy for UAVs pushes the operation to boundaries of the performance envelope, safety and reliability concerns enforce researchers to be more conservative in tuning their controllers. As an alternative solution to the aforementioned trade-off, a reliable yet accurate controller is designed for the trajectory tracking of UAVs by learning system dynamics online over the trajectory. What is more, the proposed online learning mechanism helps us to deal with unmodelled dynamics and operational uncertainties. Experimental results validate the proposed approach and show the superiority of our method compared to the conventional controller for fast and agile manoeuvres, at speeds as high as 20m/s. An onboard implementation of the sliding mode control theory-based adaptation rules for the training of the proposed ANN is computationally efficient which allows us to learn system dynamics and operational variations instantly using a low-cost and low-power computer