Post-Stall Navigation with Fixed-Wing UAVs using Onboard Vision

Abstract

Recent research has enabled fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to maneuver in constrained spaces through the use of direct nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) [1]. However, this approach has been limited to a priori known maps and ground truth state measurements. In this paper, we present a direct NMPC approach that leverages NanoMap [2], a light-weight point-cloud mapping framework to generate collision-free trajectories using onboard stereo vision. We first explore our approach in simulation and demonstrate that our algorithm is sufficient to enable vision-based navigation in urban environments. We then demonstrate our approach in hardware using a 42-inch fixed-wing UAV and show that our motion planning algorithm is capable of navigating around a building using a minimalistic set of goal-points. We also show that storing a point-cloud history is important for navigating these types of constrained environments.

A comprehensive survey on non‐cooperative collision avoidance for micro aerial vehicles: Sensing and obstacle detection

“…(Zaffar et al, 2018). When choosing the classical vision sensors as the front end, the DF and occupancy map are commonly chosen as the back end because they reasonably estimate the perception uncertainty (Lu et al, 2022;Polevoy et al, 2022;Tordesillas et al, 2021;B. Zhou et al, 2020).…”

“…In the non-cooperative environment, the MAV need to keep updating its sensing information to generate collision avoidance maneuver. The pictures of the fixed-wing MAV, and the flapping-wing MAV are ATS Ai450 v2.5 ER from Edge 540 (mini) (Polevoy et al, 2022), and Flapper Drones from Crazyflie, respectively. MAV, micro aerial vehicle.…”

DARPA OFFSET: A Vision for Advanced Swarm Systems through Agile Technology Development and ExperimentationDARPA OFFSET: A Vision for Advanced Swarm Systems through Agile Technology Development and Experimentation

“…Developed a proofof-concept prototype for OFFSET-scale UGVs with novel passive transformable wheel designs for agile and versatile locomotion. • Agile fixed-wing flight with onboard sensing (Polevoy et al, 2022). Demonstrated aerobatic fixed-wing aircraft conducting onboard flight control, navigation, and perception, integrated into the larger OFFSET swarm at FX-6 to conduct high-speed aggressive maneuvering around urban structures.…”