Quad Rotorcraft Control Vision-Based Hovering and Navigation
Quad-Rotor Control develops original control methods for the navigation and hovering flight of an autonomous mini-quad-rotor robotic helicopter. These methods use an imaging system and a combination of inertial and altitude sensors to localize and guide t
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Introduction
In recent years, researchers and engineers from diverse areas have worked intensively to develop effective flying machines capable of performing missions with minimum or no human intervention. This kind of vehicle is commonly known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Control theory, computer vision, mechanics, aerodynamics, automation and embedded electronics are some of the fields related to the development of these systems. This chapter presents first a brief summary of the UAVs in a historical way, followed by an explanation of the more common applications and classification of these kinds of vehicle. This previous sections will allow the reader to locate in its right context the quad-rotor platform used for the present research. The chapter continues with a discussion concerning the quad-rotor platform state of the art, as well as with some issues and problems still considered a challenge for engineers and researchers working with this kind of vehicle. Finally, a brief description of the content of this book is outlined.
1.1 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is defined as a crewless aircraft, which can be driven by a pilot at a ground control station or can fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans or more complex dynamic automation systems. UAVs can carry a variety of payloads according to their requirements. Furthermore, they can be expendable or recoverable. An interesting characteristic of UAVs is their capacity to communicate valuable information, such as temperature, images, or video of its environment. Furthermore, these systems can provide its primary state data, concerning position, speed, heading and altitude, remaining fuel or energy, temperatures of components, e.g. engines or electronics. UAVs are mainly appreciated since they can accomplish a large group of civilian and military applications without putting human lives at stake. Also, since they are free of aircrew, these vehicles can be designed to be smaller, which favors an easier storage and transportation. L.R. García Carrillo et al., Quad Rotorcraft Control, Advances in Industrial Control, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4471-4399-4_1, © Springer-Verlag London 2013
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Introduction
During early stages of the development of UAVs, these systems were called drones due to their autonomy restrictions. Those drones needed a constant supervision from a pilot that controlled their flight via radio commands. Nowadays, scientific progress within the embedded control and guidance systems of the UAVs allow them to autonomously perform tasks such as take-off and landing, flight stabilization and point-to-point navigation.
1.1.1 Brief History UAVs were first seen as a possibility to counteract offensive and defensive actions of opponents. Subsequently, UAVs capabilities were expanded, as they were touched by the advancements in technology, mainly due to electronics and logistics of guidance and control [9]. The first UAVs were developed as long-range armament and are considered as the forerunners of cruise missi
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