Article
Robotics
Fang Nan, Sihao Sun, Philipp Foehn, Davide Scaramuzza
Summary: This study proposes a fault-tolerant controller using nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) to stabilize and control a quadrotor in the event of complete failure of a single rotor. Unlike existing methods, this approach considers the full nonlinear dynamics of the damaged quadrotor and the thrust constraint of each rotor.
IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Bin Xian, Sen Yang
Summary: This article investigates the control problem for an underactuated dynamic system consisting of a quadrotor UAV and a suspended payload under unknown exogenous disturbances. A novel nonlinear controller based on the robust integral of the sign of the error is developed for trajectory tracking and anti-swing control, with stability analysis proving the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system. Real-time experimental results validate the performance of the proposed control design.
IEEE-ASME TRANSACTIONS ON MECHATRONICS
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Gan Yu, David Cabecinhas, Rita Cunha, Carlos Silvestre
Summary: By embedding constraints on the load acceleration into the trajectory generation, aggressive load-swing trajectories are obtained. This trajectory generation methodology, coupled with an accurate trajectory tracking controller, allows for easy execution of aggressive maneuvers on the quadrotor with a slung-load.
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Gan Yu, Wei Xie, David Cabecinhas, Rita Cunha, Carlos Silvestre
Summary: This paper addresses the design of a trajectory tracking controller for a quadrotor with an unknown mass slung-load. An adaptive controller with online estimation is proposed using the backstepping technique, which includes nonlinear control laws for thrust and angular velocity, and an adaption law for mass estimation. The proposed controller guarantees the convergence of trajectory tracking and estimation errors to zero, and is robust to variations in load mass. Simulation and experimental results are presented to validate the proposed controller's effectiveness and performance.
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Adeel Akhtar, Sajid Saleem, Jinjun Shan
Summary: This article discusses the design of a path following controller for a payload tethered to a quadrotor. By designing a smooth dynamic feedback controller, the suspended payload can follow various embedded curves and ensure that the payload does not leave the path when the aerial robot approaches it.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS
(2023)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Xuan-Zhi Zhu, Pedro Casau, Carlos Silvestre
Summary: This paper introduces an event-triggered controller for trajectory tracking of an aerial vehicle with thrust and full angular velocity actuation. The controller utilizes a hybrid controller design and event-triggering mechanism to achieve global asymptotic stability of a zero tracking error set while avoiding Zeno solutions. The effectiveness of the controller is demonstrated through numerical simulations and experimental verification.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBUST AND NONLINEAR CONTROL
(2021)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Qiyu Sun, Jinbao Fang, Wei Xing Zheng, Yang Tang
Summary: This paper proposes a curiosity-driven reinforcement learning method for quadrotor aggressive flight tasks. By introducing a curiosity module and a branch structure exploration strategy, the training procedure is accelerated and the policy's robustness is ensured. The algorithm performs well in both simulation experiments and real-world experiments.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS
(2022)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Xiao Liang, Zhuang Zhang, Hai Yu, Yang Wang, Yongchun Fang, Jianda Han
Summary: This article focuses on the cooperative control of aerial transportation systems with dual quadrotors. A redundant form of the dynamic model is constructed based on Lagrange's method, effectively decoupling the control inputs and system dynamics. Inner loop and outer loop subsystems are defined based on the cascade characteristics of the system, and a nonlinear hierarchical controller with relative position constraints and cable tensions compensation is proposed. Experimental results demonstrate satisfactory control performance of the controller.
IEEE-ASME TRANSACTIONS ON MECHATRONICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Marco Rinaldi, Stefano Primatesta, Giorgio Guglieri
Summary: This paper presents a nonlinear quadrotor UAV dynamical model and a control architecture for 3D trajectory tracking. Different attitude stabilization methods are discussed, implemented and compared, providing guidance for selecting quadcopters' control strategies in terms of quantitative and qualitative considerations.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2023)
Article
Mathematics
Nana Cheng, Chaoli Wang
Summary: This paper presents a novel switching mode control scheme for the six-DOF hovering control of underactuated quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (QUAVs) with strong coupling. The full six states of the position and attitude of the QUAV can be controlled to the special target configuration in a fixed time. The effectiveness of the control algorithm is verified through simulation experiments.
Article
Engineering, Aerospace
Linxing Xu, Yang Li
Summary: This paper addresses the distributed formation tracking control problem of quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles and proposes a control scheme based on adaptive backstepping technology to achieve formation flight and attitude stabilization.
Article
Transportation Science & Technology
Xi Lin, Chengzhang Wang, Kaiping Wang, Meng Li, Xiangqian Yu
Summary: The study introduces a two-stage control network approach for trajectory planning of UAVs in complex urban environments, addressing the challenges associated with a large number of obstacles. The proposed method efficiently identifies reasonable UAV trajectories within negligible computational time.
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART C-EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
(2021)
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Lin -Xing Xu, Yu-Long Wang, Fei Wang, Yue Long
Summary: This paper proposes an event-triggered cascade active disturbance rejection trajectory tracking control scheme for a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle, aiming to suppress the influences of unknown disturbances and model uncertainties. The control scheme reduces the transmission frequency of sampled data and suppresses the influence of additional disturbance caused by the event-triggering mechanism. It achieves trajectory tracking control for the quadrotor system while excluding Zeno behavior, and introduces a parameter adaptive adjustment mechanism for better tracking performance.
APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTATION
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Fatemeh Rekabi-Bana, Junyan Hu, Tomas Krajnik, Farshad Arvin
Summary: This paper presents a unified robust path planning, optimal trajectory generation, and control architecture for a quadrotor coverage mission. The proposed algorithm uses a modified probabilistic roadmap and a recursive node and link generation scheme to achieve safe navigation in uncertain environments. Optimal trajectory generation and robust control policy compensate for uncertainties and disturbances in accomplishing the coverage mission.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
(2023)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Xiangyu Shao, Guanghui Sun, Weiran Yao, Jianxing Liu, Ligang Wu
Summary: In this article, a novel adaptive sliding mode control strategy is proposed for attitude and altitude stabilization of a quadrotor UAV, considering input saturation. The proposed control method combines the advantages of sliding mode control and adaptive control. Simulations and experiments are conducted to verify its effectiveness and practicability.
IEEE-ASME TRANSACTIONS ON MECHATRONICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Claudio Cimarelli, Hriday Bavle, Jose Luis Sanchez-Lopez, Holger Voos
Summary: This paper presents a method for frame-to-frame motion estimation and rotation adjustment based on a model-free epipolar constraint. By matching 2D keypoints using pre-trained deep networks and utilizing an unsupervised training protocol, the proposed method achieves considerable improvements in accuracy and complexity compared to other unsupervised pose networks.
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Miguel Fernandez-Cortizas, David Perez-Saura, Pablo Santamaria, Javier Rodriguez-Vazquez, Martin Molina, Pascual Campoy
Summary: In recent years, autonomous drone races have gained popularity in the aerial robotics research community, driving technological advancements. This paper presents a complete architecture system and evaluation method for autonomous drone racing research based on the Aerostack 5.0 open-source framework.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Paul Espinosa Peralta, Marco Andres Luna, Paloma de la Puente, Pascual Campoy, Hriday Bavle, Adrian Carrio, Christyan Cruz Ulloa
Summary: This paper analyzes two different approaches to the autonomous navigation problem of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for industrial inspection. The evaluation shows that creating maps from CAD models and using laser scans can optimize processing time and resources, improve robustness, and increase accuracy. Moving around locations with relevant geometry improves the convergence and accuracy of the localization algorithm. The ICP-NL method performs well in environments with additional elements, but better results can be achieved by applying segmentation techniques.
Article
Engineering, Aerospace
Hamed Habibi, Ali Safaei, Holger Voos, Mohamed Darouach, Jose Luis Sanchez-Lopez
Summary: This paper focuses on the safe autonomous motion control of a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the presence of disturbance, stationary, and moving obstacles. An analytical control design approach is directly combined with obstacle avoidance using the backstepping framework to solve the navigation problem. The use of a Barrier Lyapunov Function allows for the direct inclusion of obstacle position in the control design, even for cases with unknown obstacle velocities. The proposed approach guarantees the analytical stability of the closed-loop system and demonstrates computational efficiency with a closed-form control design.
AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Pablo Flores Pena, Marco Andres Luna, Mohammad Sadeq Ale Isaac, Ahmed Refaat Ragab, Khaled Elmenshawy, David Martin Gomez, Pascual Campoy, Martin Molina
Summary: This paper proposes the design of the communications, control systems, and navigation algorithms of a multi-UAV system focused on remote sensing operations. A new controller based on a compensator and a nominal controller is designed to dynamically regulate the UAVs' attitude. The navigation system addresses the multi-region coverage trajectory planning task using a new approach to solve the TSP-CPP problem. The combination of the proposed navigation techniques and control strategy was simulated to optimize the controller's parameters, and the results demonstrate the robustness of the controller and optimal performance of the route planner.
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Meisam Kabiri, Claudio Cimarelli, Hriday Bavle, Jose Luis Sanchez-Lopez, Holger Voos
Summary: Efficient localisation is crucial for the applications of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in improving control, safety, and power economy. The widespread adoption of 5G NR cellular network provides new opportunities for the localisation enhancement of UAVs and UGVs. This paper reviews the radio frequency (RF)-based approaches to localisation, covering the RF features, range-based and fingerprinting methods suitable for Unmanned Vehicles. It also explores the current state-of-the-art literature on RF-based localisation, the potential of 5G NR for localisation enhancement, and future research directions.
Article
Remote Sensing
Pedro Arias-Perez, Jesus Fernandez-Conde, David Martin Gomez, Jose M. Canas, Pascual Campoy
Summary: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are an integral part of various fields with numerous applications. This work introduces DroneWrapper, a middleware programming infrastructure built on the Robot Operating System (ROS) and implemented in Python, to simplify the development process of UAV applications for users with limited knowledge of aerial robotics. The infrastructure provides a user programming interface that abstracts complexities associated with the aircraft, allowing for the development of applications. Several drivers have been developed for different aerial platforms, and two applications, follow-color and follow-person, have been created to demonstrate the use of the infrastructure.
Article
Robotics
Liang Lu, Giancarmine Fasano, Adrian Carrio, Maolin Lei, Hriday Bavle, Pascual Campoy
Summary: Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become a powerful tool in various industries, particularly in collision avoidance for micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) during autonomous missions. The complexity of collision avoidance systems depends on the navigation environment, with uncertain obstacles being a key aspect. Non-cooperative collision avoidance strategies are essential when communication is unavailable, such as when dealing with pre-existing obstacles and non-cooperative flying objects. This article reviews non-cooperative collision avoidance for MAVs in dynamic environments, focusing on onboard sensing and obstacle description algorithms. Open challenges and future directions in this field are also discussed.
JOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Hriday Bavle, Jose Luis Sanchez-Lopez, Claudio Cimarelli, Ali Tourani, Holger Voos
Summary: The capability of a mobile robot is limited by its knowledge of the environment. Current robotics research has focused on specific modules such as sensing and mapping, but situational awareness (SA) has not been fully explored. This paper aims to connect existing multidisciplinary knowledge and investigate SA algorithms in robotics, discussing their limitations and future directions. The development of Artificial Intelligence, particularly Deep Learning, provides new methods to bridge the gap and improve robotic SA.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Mohammad Sadeq Ale Isaac, Ahmed Refaat Ragab, Marco Andres Luna, Mohammad Mehdi Ale Eshagh Khoeini, Pascual Campoy
Summary: Recently, research has focused on communication sensors for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs). The paper proposes a novel approach to integrate sensors and actuators for heavy UAVs and designs a Robust Thrust Vectoring Control (RTVC) technique to control communicative modules during flight missions. The results show that RTVC is as effective as cascade PID controllers, especially for multi-rotors with mounted flaps, and can increase autonomy in UAVs powered by thermal engines.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Javier Rodriguez-Vazquez, Miguel Fernandez-Cortizas, David Perez-Saura, Martin Molina, Pascual Campoy
Summary: This paper proposes a novel semi-supervised approach for accurate counting and localization of tropical plants in aerial images without labeled data. The approach utilizes deep learning and domain adaptation to handle the domain shifts between training and test data, which is a common challenge in agricultural applications. By using unsupervised domain alignment and pseudolabeling, the method adapts a model trained on a labeled source dataset to an unlabeled target dataset. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach in counting pineapple plants in aerial images under significant domain shifts, achieving a reduction in counting error of up to 97% (1.42 in absolute count) compared to the supervised baseline (48.6 in absolute count).
Article
Robotics
Muhammad Shaheer, Hriday Bavle, Jose Luis Sanchez-Lopez, Holger Voos
Summary: This paper presents a method for robot localization using building architectural plans and hierarchical SLAM. The authors extract geometric, semantic, and topological information from the architectural plans and create a situational graph for navigation. The robot uses odometry and lidar measurements to extract wall surfaces, and a particle filter is used for global localization. The approach is validated in simulated and real datasets, showing state-of-the-art results compared to traditional geometry-based localization techniques.
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
David Perez-Saura, Miguel Fernandez-Cortizas, Rafael Perez-Segui, Pedro Arias-Perez, Pascual Campoy
Summary: In recent years, unmanned aerial vehicles have been widely used in various industries due to their ease of deployment and minimal operational risk. While research on the use of UAVs in firefighting mainly focuses on wildland fires, this paper highlights the importance of studying fires in urban environments. To encourage research in this area, ICUAS'22 organized a competition where UAVs were required to navigate through obstacles, locate a target, and accurately throw a ball to it. The CVAR-UPM team developed a solution composed of multiple modules and a mission planner, which led them to win the first prize in the competition.
JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT & ROBOTIC SYSTEMS
(2023)
Article
Robotics
Hriday Bavle, Jose Luis Sanchez-Lopez, Muhammad Shaheer, Javier Civera, Holger Voos
Summary: In this paper, an evolved version of Situational Graphs called S-Graphs+ is presented, which jointly models a pose graph and a 3D scene graph in a single optimizable factor graph. S-Graphs+ includes four layers: keyframes, walls, rooms, and floors, and is optimized in real-time to achieve accurate robot pose estimation and map construction. Novel room and floor segmentation algorithms utilizing mapped wall planes and free-space clusters are also introduced. Experimental results demonstrate that S-Graphs+ outperforms other methods in terms of accuracy and scene modeling capabilities. The software is made available as a docker file.
IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Paul Kremer, Hamed Rahimi Nohooji, Jose Luis Sanchez-Lopez, Holger Voos
Summary: This work introduces TRIGGER, a lightweight universal jamming gripper designed for aerial grasping. It presents the design, fabrication, and experimental validation of a novel intelligent modular gripper for aerial applications, leveraging recent developments in particle jamming and soft granular materials. TRIGGER generates 15 N of holding force with a small activation force of 2.5 N. Experimental data is used to develop a simulation model for robotic simulators. TRIGGER is attached to a multicopter platform to demonstrate its universal grasping capability.
