Three-dimensional guidance and control for ground moving target tracking by a quadrotor

• Published in: Aeronautical journal 2021-08, Vol.125 (1290), p.1380-1407
• Main Authors: Sepehri Movafegh, M., Dehghan, S.M.M., Zardashti, R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algorithms; Altitude; Cameras; Control algorithms; Control theory; Controllers; Field of view; Guidance (motion); Localization; Moving targets; Position errors; Predictive control; Tracking; Unmanned aerial vehicles; Upper bounds; Vehicles; Velocity
• ISSN: 0001-9240; 2059-6464
• DOI: 10.1017/aer.2021.23

This paper develops a three-dimensional guidance and control algorithm to ensure that a manoeuverable target is preserved by a quadrotor in a long-term tracking scenario. The proposed guidance approach determines the desired altitude of the quadrotor to adjust the field of view (FOV) to the union of two desired trusted and critical regions. The dimensions of the desired trusted region depend on the controller performance that is evaluated by the distance of the target from the center of the FOV. The critical region is a predefined margin around the trusted region that is defined by the operator based on the upper bounds of the quadrotor and target localisation errors. It also depends on the duration and magnitude of the temporal increase in the target velocity compared to the quadrotor velocity. A sufficient condition is provided for the minimum desired altitude of the quadrotor to ensure that the target is maintained in the FOV. Furthermore, a model predictive control (MPC) is employed to preserve the target at the center of the aerial image and the desired altitude determined by the guidance law. Also, the integrals of the position errors are used to achieve null steady-state errors in the presence of wind disturbances. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in preserving the manoeuverable target in the FOV in the presence of the wind, the uncertainty of the target and quadrotor localisation, accelerations estimation errors, and terrain altitude variation.