Vector Field Based Path Following for UAVs using Incremental Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion

Vector Field Based Path Following for UAVs using Incremental Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion

Sharma, Suresh (TU Delft Aerospace Engineering; TU Delft Control & Operations)

Smeur, E.J.J. (mentor)
Chu, Q. P. (mentor)

Delft University of Technology

Aerospace Engineering

2018-03-29

This work presents a vector field based path following method to be used by Multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The desired path to be followed is a smooth planar path defined in its implicit form. The vector field around the desired path is then constructed using the implicit function, such that the integral curves of the vector field converge to the path. The algorithm takes into account the future change in the trajectory as well as the current state of the UAV in order to calculate the desired linear acceleration, which is then tracked using the Incremental Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion (INDI) controller in the autopilot. The implementation also allows for the velocity of the UAV to be controlled independently. The efficiency of the algorithm is demonstrated using real world flight tests, and the performance is shown to be better than the
traditional carrot-chasing controller.

Vector Field
Incremental Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion
Path Following
Multirotor

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d3bd3ba9-61aa-4d48-b13d-aead118b8015

2019-03-29

Student theses

master thesis

© 2018 Suresh Sharma