TY - JOUR
T1 - On-board communication-based relative localization for collision avoidance in Micro Air Vehicle teams
AU - Coppola, Mario
AU - McGuire, Kimberly N.
AU - Scheper, Kirk Y.W.
AU - de Croon, Guido C.H.E.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - To avoid collisions, Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) flying in teams require estimates of their relative locations, preferably with minimal mass and processing burden. We present a relative localization method where MAVs need only to communicate with each other using their wireless transceiver. The MAVs exchange on-board states (velocity, height, orientation) while the signal strength indicates range. Fusing these quantities provides a relative location estimate. We used this for collision avoidance in tight areas, testing with up to three AR.Drones in a (Formula presented.) area and with two miniature drones ((Formula presented.)) in a (Formula presented.) area. The MAVs could localize each other and fly several minutes without collisions. In our implementation, MAVs communicated using Bluetooth antennas. The results were robust to the high noise and disturbances in signal strength. They could improve further by using transceivers with more accurate signal strength readings.
AB - To avoid collisions, Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) flying in teams require estimates of their relative locations, preferably with minimal mass and processing burden. We present a relative localization method where MAVs need only to communicate with each other using their wireless transceiver. The MAVs exchange on-board states (velocity, height, orientation) while the signal strength indicates range. Fusing these quantities provides a relative location estimate. We used this for collision avoidance in tight areas, testing with up to three AR.Drones in a (Formula presented.) area and with two miniature drones ((Formula presented.)) in a (Formula presented.) area. The MAVs could localize each other and fly several minutes without collisions. In our implementation, MAVs communicated using Bluetooth antennas. The results were robust to the high noise and disturbances in signal strength. They could improve further by using transceivers with more accurate signal strength readings.
KW - Autonomous flight
KW - Collision avoidance
KW - Indoor exploration
KW - Micro Air Vehicles
KW - Relative localization
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046142085&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0ee50b74-13ad-4992-a0e3-219ab9403636
U2 - 10.1007/s10514-018-9760-3
DO - 10.1007/s10514-018-9760-3
M3 - Article
SN - 0929-5593
VL - 42
SP - 1787
EP - 1805
JO - Autonomous Robots
JF - Autonomous Robots
IS - 8
ER -