Control System Development for small UAV Gimbal

Design and development of an on-board autonomous visual tracking system for unmanned aerial vehicles

“…A MATLAB/Simulink simulation model has been created to simulate the gimbaled camera control (Garcia 2012), camera model (Wang 2011), UAV model (Al-Radaideh et al 2009Al-Radaideh 2009), GMT model (El-Kalubi et al 2011, and autopilot (Mandrekar 2008;Athulathmudali 2008;Saban 2006;Qureshi 2008) in order to check if the control algorithm meets the requirements for a multi-level autonomous visual tracking algorithm. The mathematical models of the GMT model (El-Kalubi et al 2011), pinhole camera model (Brake 2012), GMT state estimator (Quek 2005), 6DOF UAV model (Watkiss 1994), camera control law (Garcia 2012), UAV guidance law (Chuan 2009), and autopilot (Johansen 2012;Christiansen 2004) have been developed and are shown in Figure 3.…”

A Survey of Practical Design Considerations of Optical Imaging Stabilization Systems for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems

“…Medium quality with from 25 to 250 μrad RMS and high quality with less than 25 μrad RMS. Brake [34] classified the gimbal systems by crossing size and LoS stabilization performance in degrees. Small gimbal systems weight up to 4.5 kg and can achieve a LoS stabilization performance on the order of ±0.5 to ±0.1 degrees.…”

“…Regarding sUAS gimbal systems design, while Miller et al [33] did a wide comparison between different configurations to provide a broad overview of the design concepts, Brake [34] focused his work on studying the topic to define the best approach for the development of his specific gimbal system, designed to meet size, weight and performance requirements previously defined.…”

“…Passive stabilization is related to the fact that the platform, sensor, and target LoS move within inertial space. Therefore, low friction joints and high inner axis inertia can passively contribute to maintaining the desired LoS/attitude [34]. Active stabilization is done when the drivers will act based on sensor readings to keep the platform’s desired attitude/LoS.…”

“…Active stabilization is done when the drivers will act based on sensor readings to keep the platform’s desired attitude/LoS. Therefore, to mitigate these vibration effects, Brake [34] designed an active inertial dampening to take care of frequencies of less than 5 Hz and the gimbal system mechanical design provides a good passive inertial dampening for frequencies on the order of 5–20 Hz. For higher frequencies, the gimbal mounting system is responsible for dampening them out.…”