EKF Based Attitude Estimation and Stabilization of a Quadrotor UAV Using Vanishing Points in Catadioptric Images

In recent years, Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) have become more and more important. These vehicles are employed in many applications from military operations to civilian tasks. Under situations where global positioning system (GPS) and inertial navigation system (INS) do not function, or as an additional sensor, computer vision can be used. Having 360° view, catadioptric cameras might be very useful as they can be used as measurement units, obstacle avoidance sensors or navigation planners. Although many innovative research has been done about this camera, employment of such cameras in UAVs is very new. In this paper, we present the use of catadioptric systems in UAVs to estimate vehicle attitude using parallel lines that exist on many structures in an urban environment. After explanation of the algorithm, the UAV modeling and control will be presented. In order to increase the estimation and control speed an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and multi-threading are used and speeds up to 40 fps are obtained. Various simulations have been done to present the effectiveness of the estimation algorithms as well as the UAV controllers. A custom test stand has been designed to perform successful experiments on the UAV. Finally, we will present the experiments and the results of the estimation and control algorithms on a real model helicopter. EKF based attitude estimation and stabilization using catadioptric images has found to be a reliable alternative to other sensor usage.     

Vision-aided Estimation of Attitude,Velocity, and Inertial Measurement Bias for UAV Stabilization

This paper studies vision-aided inertial navigation of small-scale unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in GPS-denied environments. The objectives of the navigation system are to firstly online estimate and compensate the unknown inertial measurement biases, secondly provide drift-free velocity and attitude estimates which are crucial for UAV stabilization control, and thirdly give relatively accurate position estimation such that the UAV is able to perform at least a short-term navigation when the GPS signal is not available. For the vision system, we do not presume maps or landmarks of the environment. The vision system should be able to work robustly even given low-resolution images (e.g., 160 ×120 pixels) of near homogeneous visual features. To achieve these objectives, we propose a novel homography-based vision-aided navigation system that adopts four common sensors: a low-cost inertial measurement unit, a downward-looking monocular camera, a barometer, and a compass. The measurements of the sensors are fused by an extended Kalman filter. Based on both analytical and numerical observability analyses of the navigation system, we theoretically verify that the proposed navigation system is able to achieve the navigation objectives. We also show comprehensive simulation and real flight experimental results to verify the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed navigation system.     

基于EKF算法的太阳能无人机低成本飞控状态估计

当大展弦比太阳能无人机(UAV)采用由低成本传感器组成的飞控平台时,受限于传感器误差精度、无人机长航时、广域度的任务要求,传统数据融合算法无法实现其姿态、空速和风场长时间的准确和可靠估计.从飞控搭载的传感器测量原理出发,对测量过程的误差特性和温度影响进行建模,基于扩展卡尔曼滤波算法实现状态的可靠估计.首先,将压力传感器与惯导的数据进行融合以实现姿态估计;其次,结合无人机的布局特征将磁力计独立安装以实现航向估计;最后,融合GPS的数据进行导航估计.仿真结果表明,较传统的变增益估计算法(VGO),所提出算法的层次更分明,结果更可靠,而且可以与太阳能无人机的特征较好地结合.     

基于传感器校正与融合的农用小型无人机姿态估计算法

实时姿态信息获取是运用农用小型无人机(Unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV)进行变量作业控制的重要环节,本文采用STM32单片机、微机电系统(Micro-electro mechanical system, MEMS)加速度计、陀螺仪、磁强计和无线收发模块设计出农用小型无人机姿态实时解算系统,文中对三轴数字传感器的校正方法以及基于四元数和梯度下降法的多传感器融合姿态估计做了详细地介绍与推导.结果表明,在72MHz时钟频率下模拟集成电路总线(Inter-integrated circuit, ⅡC)传感器数据采集及滤波消耗6.2ms,迭代步长取0.8,一次姿态解算消耗约0.96ms,数据更新频率可达100Hz,能满足实时性要求.经测试在静态时俯仰角和翻滚角输出的平均绝对误差小于1.5,偏航角平均绝对误差小于2.9,小幅震动条件下的俯仰角、翻滚角和偏航角平均绝对误差增加1~2左右.这表明该传感器校正方法与姿态融合算法实用有效,能为农用小型无人机的飞行控制与变量作业实施提供准确的姿态数据.     

A Data Fusion System for Attitude Estimation of Low-cost Miniature UAVs

Miniature unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have attracted wide interest from researchers and developers because of their broad applications. In order to make a miniature UAV platform popular for civilian applications, one critical concern is the overall cost. However, lower cost generally means lower navigational accuracy and insufficient flight control performance, mainly due to the low graded avionics on the UAV. This paper introduces a data fusion system based on several low-priced sensors to improve the attitude estimation of a low-cost miniature fixed-wing UAV platform. The characteristics of each sensor and the calculation of attitude angles are carefully studied. The algorithms and implementation of the fusion system are described and explained in details. Ground test results with three sensor fusions are compared and analyzed, and flight test comparison results with two sensor fusions are also presented.     

RS-GA神经网络无人机受风情况估计

针对现有无人机（Unmanned Aerial Vehicle,UAV）风场估计方法中存在的计算复杂、需额外搭载传感器等问题,提出基于粗糙集遗传神经网络的无人机受风状态估计方法。该方法利用粗糙集分析方法对无人机上采集的姿态信息数据集进行约简;利用遗传算法全局搜索能力强的特点优化神经网络的初始权值;用简化的无人机数据集训练神经网络即得到所需神经网络风场估计模型。仿真结果表明,该方法具有较高的识别率以及较短的训练时间,证明了其在无人机风场估计上应用的有效性。     

Attitude Stabilization of a Biologically Inspired Robotic Housefly via Dynamic Multimodal Attitude Estimation

In this paper, we study sensor fusion for the attitude stabilization of micro aerial vehicles, particularly mechanical flying insects. Following a geometric approach, a dynamic observer is proposed that estimates attitude based on kinematic data available from different and redundant bioinspired sensors such as halteres, ocelli, gravitometers, magnetic compass and light polarization compass. In particular, the traditional structure of complementary filters, suitable for multiple sensor fusion, is specialized to the Lie group of rigid-body rotations SO(3). The filter performance based on a three-axis accelerometer and a three-axis gyroscope is experimentally tested on a 2-d.o.f. support, showing its effectiveness. Finally, attitude stabilization is proposed based on a feedback scheme with dynamic estimation of the state, i.e., the orientation and the angular velocity. Almost-global stability of the proposed controller in the case of dynamic state estimation is demonstrated via the separation principle, and realistic numerical simulations with noisy sensors and external disturbances are provided to validate the proposed control scheme.     

Omnidirectional vision applied to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) attitude and heading estimation

This paper presents an aircraft attitude and heading estimator using catadioptric images as a principal sensor for UAV or as a redundant system for IMU (Inertial Measure Unit) and gyro sensors. First, we explain how the unified theory for central catadioptric cameras is used for attitude and heading estimation, explaining how the skyline is projected on the catadioptric image and how it is segmented and used to calculate the UAV’s attitude. Then, we use appearance images to obtain a visual compass, and we calculate the relative rotation and heading of the aerial vehicle. Finally the tests and results using the UAV COLIBRI platform and the validation of them in real flights are presented, comparing the estimated data with the inertial values measured on board.     

3-D Unitary ESPRIT: Accurate attitude estimation for unmanned aerial vehicles with a hexagon-shaped ESPAR array

Accurate estimation of the attitude of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is crucial for their control and displacement. Errors in the attitude estimate may misuse the limited battery energy of UAVs or even cause an accident. For attitude estimation, proprioceptive sensors such as inertial measurement units (IMUs) are widely applied, but they are susceptible to inertial guidance error. With antenna arrays currently being installed in UAVs for communication with ground base stations, we can take advantage of the array structure in order to improve the estimates of IMUs via data fusion. In this paper, we therefore propose an attitude estimation system based on a hexagon-shaped 7-element electronically steerable parasitic antenna radiator (ESPAR) array. The ESPAR array is well-suited for installment in the UAVs with broad wings and short bodies. Our proposed solution returns an estimation for the pitch and roll based on the inter-element phase delay estimates of the line-of-sight path of the impinging signal over the antenna array. By exploiting the parallel and centrosymmetric structure in the hexagon-shaped ESPAR array, the 3-dimensional Unitary ESPRIT algorithm is applied for phase delay estimation to achieve high accuracy as well as computational efficiency. We devise an attitude estimation algorithm by exploiting the geometrical relationship between the UAV attitude and the estimated phase delays. An analytical closed-form expression of the attitude estimates is obtained by solving the established simultaneous nonlinear equations. Simulations results show the feasibility of our proposed solution for different signal-to-noise ratio levels as well as multipath scenarios.     

Indoor UAV Control Using Multi-Camera Visual Feedback

This paper presents the control of an indoor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) using multi-camera visual feedback. For the autonomous flight of the indoor UAV, instead of using onboard sensor information, visual feedback concept is employed by the development of an indoor flight test-bed. The indoor test-bed consists of four major components: the multi-camera system, ground computer, onboard color marker set, and quad-rotor UAV. Since the onboard markers are attached to the pre-defined location, position and attitude of the UAV can be estimated by marker detection algorithm and triangulation method. Additionally, this study introduces a filter algorithm to obtain the full 6-degree of freedom (DOF) pose estimation including velocities and angular rates. The filter algorithm also enhances the performance of the vision system by making up for the weakness of low cost cameras such as poor resolution and large noise. Moreover, for the pose estimation of multiple vehicles, data association algorithm using the geometric relation between cameras is proposed in this paper. The control system is designed based on the classical proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control, which uses the position, velocity and attitude from the vision system and the angular rate from the rate gyro sensor. This paper concludes with both ground and flight test results illustrating the performance and properties of the proposed indoor flight test-bed and the control system using the multi-camera visual feedback.     

单天线GPS/陀螺仪组合测姿方法研究

针对低成本惯性测量系统的精度容易受引擎震动、陀螺仪漂移的影响,提出了一种适用于活塞引擎的小型UAV姿态测量方法;此方法整合陀螺仪与单天线GPS进行姿态测量,采用以四元数为基础的扩展卡尔曼滤波(EKF)来进行传感器信息融合;利用陀螺仪测得的角速度更新四元数,使用GPS信息所计算的伪姿态来更新滤波器的测量值;仿真结果表明所提出的方法即使在陀螺仪漂移和伪姿态包含噪声的情况下,也拥有较好的长期和短期精度,提升了姿态测量的精度与可靠度。     

无人机自适应姿态角度估计仿真

针对复杂环境下传感器噪声未知且不断变化,会导致姿态融合结果不准确的问题,设计了一种基于单新息自适应算法的卡尔曼滤波器,对加速度计和陀螺仪噪声协方差进行在线估计。首先,介绍了能够结合各个传感器优势的无人机姿态融合算法。然后,设计了采用基于单新息自适应算法的卡尔曼滤波器,给出了能够在线估计加速度噪声协方差R和陀螺仪噪声协方差Q的自适应算法。MATLAB仿真表明单新息自适应卡尔曼滤波器在环境噪声变化时,能够更准确地获得无人机的姿态信息,提高了姿态融合精确度,提高了滤波器的鲁棒性。     

Dynamic surface active fault tolerant control design for the attitude control systems of UAV with actuator fault

In this paper, an active fault tolerant control (FTC) approach based on transient performance index is proposed for the attitude control systems of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with actuator fault. The nonlinear attitude control system model for UAV with actuator faults is given, which represents the dynamic characteristics of UAV. A fault diagnosis component is used for fault detection and estimation. According to the fault estimation information obtained during the fault diagnosis, the fault tolerant control scheme is developed by adopting the adaptive dynamic surface control technique, which guarantees the asymptotic output tracking and ultimate uniform boundedness of the closed-loop attitude control systems of UAV in actuator faulty case. Further, a prescribed transient performance of the FTC attitude control systems is considered which characterizes the convergence rate and maximum overshoot of the attitude tracking error. Finally, simulation results are shown that the attitude control system states remain bounded and the output tracking errors converge to a neighborhood of zero.     

多标记室内小型无人机定位与姿态估计方法

随着无人机（Unmanned Aerial Vehicle,UAV）小型化、轻便化的发展,因其价格低廉,以及在娱乐和服务领域的广泛使用的特点,使得如何实现一个便捷且易实现的自主飞行跟踪系统成为关注点。由于无人机在室内GPS信号弱,使得跟踪与姿态获取成为进一步室内无人机自主控制的重点与难点。与动辄几十万美元搭建的无人机跟踪系统相比,采用低成本单目摄像机的无人机跟踪系统具有更高的科研价值和更广泛的应用前景。针对目前流行的基于增强现实（Augmented Reality,AR）技术的ArUco标记算法和颜色空间域标记算法,设计了一种多标记的无人机跟踪系统。在无人机目标跟踪过程中比较两种方法,验证了两种方法非接触式深度传感器无人机跟踪和姿态估计的效果,并比较了两种方法对空间亮度与空间颜色复杂度的鲁棒性,以及不同跟踪距离下视频中无人机检出率与跟踪精度。实验结果表明,基于深度摄像机获得的无人机位置和姿态数据,无人机可以进行自主的PID控制飞行,且AR标记在复杂环境下无人机的检出率、跟踪实时性、姿态估计精度以及鲁棒性都优于颜色标记,为之后室内无人机在非接触式传感的控制、路径规划、自主规避等进一步实验研究提供了无人机的位置和姿态数据。     

四旋翼无人机姿态系统复合连续快速非奇异终端滑模控制EI北大核心CSCD

本文针对受多源干扰影响的四旋翼无人机姿态系统,基于复合连续快速非奇异终端滑模算法,研究了姿态指令变化率未知情况下的连续有限时间姿态跟踪控制问题.首先,基于四旋翼无人机姿态回路动力学模型,通过引入虚拟控制量实现姿态跟踪误差动态的三通道解耦;其次,分别针对各通道跟踪误差动态设计高阶滑模观测器,实现跟踪误差变化率和集总干扰的有限时间估计;最后,结合姿态跟踪误差变化率的估计信息,构建动态快速非奇异终端滑模面,并在控制设计中用指数幂函数代替符号函数以保证控制量连续.并且基于Lyapunov分析方法给出了姿态跟踪误差有限时间收敛的严格证明,仿真结果验证了所提方法的有效性.     

Design and Attitude Control of a Quad-Rotor Tail-Sitter Vertical Takeoff and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

In this paper, we present the development of a quad-rotor tail-sitter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is composed of quad rotors and a fixed wing. The developed UAV can hover like a quad-rotor helicopter and can fly long distance like a fixed-wing airplane. The main wing of the developed UAV is taken from a commercially available radio-controlled airplane and other parts such as the body frame are newly developed. A microcomputer, various sensors and a battery are mounted on the UAV for autonomous flight without any support from a ground system. Attitude and altitude control systems are developed for the UAV. In order to verify the designed controller, a three-dimensional flight simulator of a quad-rotor tail-sitter UAV is developed by use of MATLAB/Simulink. This paper also describes attitude control experiments. The results show that the propeller slipstream has a negative influence on attitude control. Solutions for the negative influence of the propeller slipstream are also discussed in this paper.     

一种基于单目视觉的微型无人机姿态算法

针对无人机在连续飞行过程中的姿态求取问题,提出一种基于单目视觉的微型无人机姿态算法。基于无人机摄像机获得序列图像,利用图像尺度不变特性变换获取特征点信息,结合对极几何约束关系,运用随机采样一致性原理求解载体位姿变换信息,从而获得载体的导航信息。实验结果表明,通过单目序列图像获得的姿态角度变化精度优于0.1°,在180°旋转情况下的误差累加值小于1°。     

基于四元数衍生无迹卡尔曼滤波的二段式多旋翼无人机姿态估计算法

对传统多旋翼无人机姿态估计算法难以兼顾高精度、强实时性以及抗干扰能力差的问题,首先基于一种计算量较小的衍生无迹卡尔曼滤波算法,在量测更新中,将加速度数据和磁力计数据分为两个阶段进行姿态四元数校正处理,然后从旋转四元数的本质出发,推测出四元数各元素分别包含着不同的姿态角信息,最后将校正四元数分别乘上为降低校正过程中的相互干扰所设计的系数,提出一种基于四元数衍生无迹卡尔曼滤波的二段式多旋翼无人机姿态估计算法.通过使用PIXHAWK飞控数据,与传统姿态估计算法进行仿真实验对比,实验表明,本文提出算法与传统使用扩展卡尔曼滤波(EKF)或无迹卡尔曼滤波(UKF)的姿态估计算法相比,在实时性、解算精度和抗干扰能力方面有较大提升.     

Unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs attitude,height, motion estimation and control using visual systems

This paper presents an implementation of an aircraft pose and motion estimator using visual systems as the principal sensor for controlling an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or as a redundant system for an Inertial Measure Unit (IMU) and gyros sensors. First, we explore the applications of the unified theory for central catadioptric cameras for attitude and heading estimation, explaining how the skyline is projected on the catadioptric image and how it is segmented and used to calculate the UAV’s attitude. Then we use appearance images to obtain a visual compass, and we calculate the relative rotation and heading of the aerial vehicle. Additionally, we show the use of a stereo system to calculate the aircraft height and to measure the UAV’s motion. Finally, we present a visual tracking system based on Fuzzy controllers working in both a UAV and a camera pan and tilt platform. Every part is tested using the UAV COLIBRI platform to validate the different approaches, which include comparison of the estimated data with the inertial values measured onboard the helicopter platform and the validation of the tracking schemes on real flights.     

LANDING AN UNMANNED AIR VEHICLE: VISION BASED MOTION ESTIMATION AND NONLINEAR CONTROL

In this paper, we use computer vision as a feedback sensor in a control loop for landing an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) on a landing pad. The vision problem we address here is then a special case of the classic ego-motion estimation problem since all feature points lie on a planar surface (the landing pad). We study together the discrete and differential versions of the ego-motion estimation, in order to obtain both position and velocity of the UAV relative to the landing pad. After briefly reviewing existing algorithm for the discrete case, we present, in a unified geometric framework, a new estimation scheme for solving the differential case. We further show how the obtained algorithms enable the vision sensor to be placed in the feedback loop as a state observer for landing control. These algorithms are linear, numerically robust, and computationally inexpensive hence suitable for real-time implementation. We present a thorough performance evaluation of the motion estimation algorithms under varying levels of image measurement noise, altitudes of the camera above the landing pad, and different camera motions relative to the landing pad. A landing controller is then designed for a full dynamic model of the UAV. Using geometric nonlinear control theory, the dynamics of the UAV are decoupled into an inner system and outer system. The proposed control scheme is then based on the differential flatness of the outer system. For the overall closed-loop system, conditions are provided under which exponential stability can be guaranteed. In the closed-loop system, the controller is tightly coupled with the vision based state estimation and the only auxiliary sensor are accelerometers for measuring acceleration of the UAV. Finally, we show through simulation results that the designed vision-in-the-loop controller generates stable landing maneuvers even for large levels of image measurement noise. Experiments on a real UAV will be presented in future work.