Dong-Hee Lee, Wooryong Park, Junhak Yi, Woohyun Byun, Soobin Huh, Woochul Nam
{"title":"Quadcopter Capable of Autonomously Chasing Micro-Aircraft with Real-Time Visual Tracker","authors":"Dong-Hee Lee, Wooryong Park, Junhak Yi, Woohyun Byun, Soobin Huh, Woochul Nam","doi":"10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156489","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156489","url":null,"abstract":"It is difficult for unmanned aerial vehicles to chase another micro-aircraft (MA) due to the small size and its fast maneuverability. Thus, this study developed a fast and accurate visual tracker for real-time inference. Then, a quadcopter was controlled to chase a target MA by considering the result of the visual tracker. Specifically, the pitch, throttle, and yaw of the quadcopter were determined by the PD controller based on the position, and the size of the MA in the image. The newly developed visual tracker comprises an adaptive search region (SR) and a fully convolutional neural network. The size and the location of the SR were constantly adjusted over image frames by considering the tracking result of the MA in previous frames. Furthermore, if the size and the location of the SR are not precise enough, the SR was updated to minimize the tracking failure. Performance of the SR was improved by using the Kalman filter. In real flight experiments, the quadcopter equipped with the proposed model successfully chased the MA which randomly moved at approximately 5 m/s.","PeriodicalId":379073,"journal":{"name":"2023 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS)","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127647472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Equivalent Vertical Dynamics of Flapping-Wing Flying Robot in Regulation Control: Displacement Transmissibility Ratio","authors":"S. R. Nekoo, A. Ollero","doi":"10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156157","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156157","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents an equivalent dynamic model for vertical regulation control of a flapping-wing flying robot. The model is presented based on the data of a series of flight experiments for an available platform. The system shows oscillations in motion in all experiments with an approximate frequency between [3. 5, 4. 5](Hz), changing within a limited range. The behavior of the equivalent model represents a system with base excitation. The displacement transmissibility ratio (TR) is found for the model to investigate the oscillatory behavior in the system during the flight. Reduction of the oscillations through the transmissibility ratio will decrease the uncertainty in flight and consequently, that could increase the success rate of perching on a branch (now it has a 10 - 15(cm) uncertain periodic motion); perching needs precision on the last meter approaching phase. An analytical expression for TR is presented which is used for parameter selection, tuning, and selection of the flapping frequency, as the base excitation source. The study shows that the robot works in a proper zone of the frequency ratio, and also, the sensitivity of the TR is high concerning the changes in the stiffness constant.","PeriodicalId":379073,"journal":{"name":"2023 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS)","volume":"137 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127343721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Rinaldi, Stefano Primatesta, G. Guglieri, A. Rizzo
{"title":"Multi-Auctioneer Market-based Task Scheduling for Persistent Drone Delivery","authors":"M. Rinaldi, Stefano Primatesta, G. Guglieri, A. Rizzo","doi":"10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10155855","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10155855","url":null,"abstract":"Market-based task allocation methods represent an effective strategy for scheduling heterogeneous tasks to a heterogeneous multi-agent system, e.g., a fleet of different Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). This is mainly due to their computational efficiency, ease of hybridization with optimization techniques and adaptability to different communication architectures. In this paper, a novel hybrid auction-based task allocation architecture with multi-auctioneer agents’ behavior is proposed for an Urban Air Mobility application. The proposed method aims to solve the combined problem of: (i) scheduling parcel pick-up and delivery tasks with time deadlines while minimizing the drones’ energy consumption; (ii) scheduling battery re-charge tasks in order to ensure the service’s persistency; and (iii) evaluating safe aerial routes since the UAVs fly over populated areas. The validity of the approach is demonstrated through Monte Carlo simulations. Moreover, being the proposed architecture distributed among the UAVs, the impact of communication failures on well-defined solution quality parameters is also investigated.","PeriodicalId":379073,"journal":{"name":"2023 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS)","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130728358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gervase H.L.H. Lovell-Prescod, Ziqing Ma, E. Smeur
{"title":"Attitude Control of a Tilt-rotor Tailsitter Micro Air Vehicle Using Incremental Control","authors":"Gervase H.L.H. Lovell-Prescod, Ziqing Ma, E. Smeur","doi":"10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156272","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156272","url":null,"abstract":"Tailsitter Micro Air Vehicles with two rotors are promising due to their simplicity and efficient forward flight, but actuator saturation due to ineffective pitch control at a high angle of attack flight is a challenge limiting the flight envelope. This paper proposes a novel tilt-rotor tailsitter design which features two tilting rotors as the only means for control moment generation. Incremental Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion (INDI) is applied to the attitude control problem of the tiltrotor tailsitter, whose attitude angle tracking performance is validated by indoor and outdoor flight tests. It is found that actuator saturation is largely avoided by using thrust vectoring which provides sufficient capability of pitch moment generation. However, it is also found that the proposed design with only leading-edge tilting motors excluding any aerodynamic control surfaces has limited roll control effectiveness in forward flight.","PeriodicalId":379073,"journal":{"name":"2023 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS)","volume":"38 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131167490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. H. M. Pereira, Faezeh Pasandideh, Maik Basso, J. P. J. da Costa, Edison Pignaton de Freitas
{"title":"Design and Deployment of an Efficient Communication Service for Multi-UAV Systems","authors":"P. H. M. Pereira, Faezeh Pasandideh, Maik Basso, J. P. J. da Costa, Edison Pignaton de Freitas","doi":"10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156133","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156133","url":null,"abstract":"Recent advances in the areas of microelectronics, information technology, and communication protocols have made possible the development of smaller devices, with increasing processing capacity and low energy consumption. This context contributed to the growth of applications based on the use of one or multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Networks composed of multiple UAVs are being used as a matter of improving the effectiveness, accuracy, and minoring the time of missions. However, these applications demand a high rate of data exchange, such as the localization information of each UAV, which can be a challenge, due to the limited transmission power of certain drone platforms. This article proposes a communication service for multi-UAV systems based on dividing the UAV-fleet into groups using the communication protocol IEEE 802.11 ac. Each group has its local network, whose participants can be chosen based on the UAV’s localization or task assignment. UAVs/Drones within the same group constantly communicate, exchanging pose information and specific mission-related data. On the other hand, communication between different groups is only established by messenger drones in pre-set times. The communication service from its detailed implementation to its simulated and field validation experiments is presented in this paper. The results of three different network topologies provide evidence that the proposed communication service for multi-UAV is efficient and can be used for drone cooperative missions.","PeriodicalId":379073,"journal":{"name":"2023 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS)","volume":"83 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132743388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Variable pitch propeller - blade pitch moment computational analysis","authors":"Maciej Podsędkowski, Michal Lipian, D. Obidowski","doi":"10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10155835","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10155835","url":null,"abstract":"The paper presents the methodology of pitching moment prediction in drone rotors equipped with a variable pitch propeller. The proposed study describes extension of the available software like QPROP to calculate the blade pitching moment. The simulation results are validated with experimental data from the wind tunnel test and shows an example use of the proposed method. The research highlights potential applications where this analysis is crucial and where challenges of variable pitch propeller design might be solved with the proposed method.","PeriodicalId":379073,"journal":{"name":"2023 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS)","volume":"208 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134365716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
I. Cortés-Benito, Y. Tlatelpa-Osorio, M. Martínez-Ramírez, J. G. Romero, H. Rodríguez-Cortés
{"title":"Experimental Quadrotor Physical Parameters Estimation","authors":"I. Cortés-Benito, Y. Tlatelpa-Osorio, M. Martínez-Ramírez, J. G. Romero, H. Rodríguez-Cortés","doi":"10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156332","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156332","url":null,"abstract":"This paper addresses the experimental quadrotor physical parameter identification using two versions of the recently proposed technique known as dynamic regressor extension and mixing (DREM). This technique preprocesses, algebraically and dynamically, the regressor to alleviate the persistency of excitation constraints. From the recorded data in experimental flights, the quadrotor physical parameters: inertia, mass, and aerodynamic drag, are identified using a power balance-based regressor.","PeriodicalId":379073,"journal":{"name":"2023 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS)","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133806783","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ahmet Cagri Arican, Engin Hasan Çopur, G. Inalhan, M. U. Salamci
{"title":"State Dependent Regional Pole Assignment Controller Design for a 3-DOF Helicopter Model","authors":"Ahmet Cagri Arican, Engin Hasan Çopur, G. Inalhan, M. U. Salamci","doi":"10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10155816","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10155816","url":null,"abstract":"For linear systems, a state feedback control law can be easily designed to keep all closed-loop poles inside a specified disk since the locations of the poles are unique. However, its application to nonlinear systems is not so simple. Therefore, this paper introduces a new pole placement method, named as State Dependent Regional Pole Assignment, for nonlinear systems. This proposed method produces a state dependent feedback control law, enabling the eigenvalues of the closed-loop matrix to be placed in a specified disk to achieve the desired control performance characteristics. The effectiveness of the method is tested on the 3 DOF Helicopter experimental setup. To verify its effectiveness, the experimental results of the nonlinear method are compared with those of the linear method.","PeriodicalId":379073,"journal":{"name":"2023 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS)","volume":"97 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122903600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Autonomous Navigation and Control of a Quadrotor Using Deep Reinforcement Learning","authors":"Mohamed Mokhtar, A. El-Badawy","doi":"10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156126","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156126","url":null,"abstract":"A deep reinforcement learning-based control framework has been proposed in this paper to achieve autonomous navigation and control of a quadrotor. Cascaded reinforcement learning agents form the control framework. First, a path following (PF) agent controls the quadrotor’s tracking behavior by directly mapping environment states into motor commands. The second agent modifies the desired path to avoid any detected obstacles along the path. The obstacle avoidance (OA) agent achieves this task by adding an offset distance deflection to the tracking error before sending it to the path-following agent. Generalization of the obstacle avoidance behavior in three-dimensional space was achieved by the usage of frame transformation. The two agents were trained using the \"Twin Delayed Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient\" (TD3) algorithm, and the developed framework succeeded in avoiding multiple obstacles of different sizes and configurations in simulation.","PeriodicalId":379073,"journal":{"name":"2023 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS)","volume":"3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128020113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sara Roos-Hoefgeest, Jonathan Cacace, Vincenzo Scognamiglio, Ignacio Álvarez, R. C. González, Fabio Ruggiero, V. Lippiello
{"title":"A Vision-based Approach for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to Track Industrial Pipes for Inspection Tasks","authors":"Sara Roos-Hoefgeest, Jonathan Cacace, Vincenzo Scognamiglio, Ignacio Álvarez, R. C. González, Fabio Ruggiero, V. Lippiello","doi":"10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156565","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156565","url":null,"abstract":"Inspecting and maintaining industrial plants is an important and emerging field in robotics. A particular case is represented by the inspection of oil and gas refinery facilities consisting of different long pipe racks to be inspected repeatedly. This task is costly in terms of human safety and operation costs due to the high altitude location in which the pipes are placed. In this domain, we propose a visual inspection system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), allowing the autonomous tracking and navigation of the center line of the industrial pipe. The proposed approach exploits a depth sensor to generate the control data for the aerial platform and, at the same time, highlight possible pipe defects. A set of simulated and real experiments in a GPS-denied environment have been carried out to validate the visual inspection system.","PeriodicalId":379073,"journal":{"name":"2023 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS)","volume":"275 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115878875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}