An Empirical Approach to Reinforcement Learning for Micro Aerial Vehicles

The use of Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) in practical applications, to solve real-world problems, is growing in demand as the technology becomes more widely known and accessible. Proposed applications already span a wide berth of fields like military, search and rescue, ecology, artificial pollinators, and more. As compared to larger Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), MAVs are specifically desirable for applications which take advantage of their small size or light weight – whether that means being discreet, having insect-like maneuverability, operating in small spaces, or being more inherently safe with respect to injury towards people. In some cases, MAVs work under conditions where autonomy is needed. The small size of MAVs and the desire for autonomy combine to create a demanding set of challenges for the guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) of these systems. Limitations of on-board sensors, difficulties in modeling their complex and often time varying dynamics, and limited on-board computational resources, are just a few examples of the challenges facing MAV autonomy...