ORB-SLAM Based Active Disturbance Rejection Control for Quadrotor Autonomous Flight

Abstract

This paper presents the combination of a robust controller with robust visual feedback for autonomous flight of a quadrotor. The proposed control strategy estimates the disturbances and rejects them in real time using visual information from the on-board camera and a robust observer to detect disturbances. The navigation, vision and control algorithms are executed in parallel threads using Robotics Operating System in order to enhance the control system performance. The proposed visual control technique was tested by giving a target pose to the quadrotor, which was successfully reached with acceptable performance even in presence of wind disturbances that are intrinsic of outdoors environments. The satisfactory results showed that the proposed combination of robust control and visual feedback techniques provide a suitable performance for autonomous navigation of quadrotors.