Related papers: Comparison of Optimization-Based Methods for Energ…
Autonomous Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) have the potential to be employed for surveillance and monitoring tasks. By perching and staring on one or multiple locations aerial robots can save energy while concurrently increasing their overall…
We present CCO-VOXEL: the very first chance-constrained optimization (CCO) algorithm that can compute trajectory plans with probabilistic safety guarantees in real-time directly on the voxel-grid representation of the world. CCO-VOXEL maps…
Quadrotor motion planning in complex environments leverage the concept of safe flight corridor (SFC) to facilitate static obstacle avoidance. Typically, SFCs are constructed through convex decomposition of the environment's free space into…
This paper introduces a new algorithm for trajectory optimization, Decoupled Reduced-space and Adaptive Feasibility-repair Trajectory Optimization (DRAFTO). It first constructs a constrained objective that accounts for smoothness, safety,…
Agile quadrotor flight pushes the limits of control, actuation, and onboard perception. While time-optimal trajectory planning has been extensively studied, existing approaches typically neglect the tight coupling between vehicle dynamics,…
We focus on a replanning scenario for quadrotors where considering time efficiency, non-static initial state and dynamical feasibility is of great significance. We propose a real-time B-spline based kinodynamic (RBK) search algorithm, which…
This thesis focuses on developing and analyzing accelerated and inexact first-order methods for solving or finding stationary points of various nonconvex composite optimization (NCO) problems. The main tools mainly come from variational and…
This paper presents a method for online trajectory planning in known environments. The proposed algorithm is a fusion of sampling-based techniques and model-based optimization via quadratic programming. The former is used to efficiently…
Uncertain dynamic obstacles, such as pedestrians or vehicles, pose a major challenge for optimal robot navigation with safety guarantees. Previous work on motion planning has followed two main strategies to provide a safe bound on an…
In practical applications, autonomous quadrotors are still facing significant challenges, such as the detection and avoidance of very small and even dynamic obstacles (e.g., tree branches, power lines). In this paper, we propose a compact,…
We propose a method to generate robust and optimal trajectories for the transition of a tiltwing Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft leveraging concepts from convex optimisation, tube-based nonlinear Model Predictive Control (MPC)…
Optimizing the trajectories of multiple quadrotors in a shared space is a core challenge in various applications. Many existing trajectory optimization methods enforce constraints only at the discretization points, leading to violations…
Quadrotors hold significant promise for several applications such as agriculture, search and rescue, and infrastructure inspection. Achieving autonomous operation requires systems to navigate safely through complex and unfamiliar…
Minimum-time navigation within constrained and dynamic environments is of special relevance in robotics. Seeking time-optimality, while guaranteeing the integrity of time-varying spatial bounds, is an appealing trade-off for agile vehicles,…
Model instability and poor prediction of long-term behavior are common problems when modeling dynamical systems using nonlinear "black-box" techniques. Direct optimization of the long-term predictions, often called simulation error…
In this paper, we present an efficient Dynamic Programing framework for optimal planning and control of legged robots. First we formulate this problem as an optimal control problem for switched systems. Then we propose a multi--level…
Combinatorial optimization problems are typically formulated using Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO), where constraints are enforced through penalty terms that introduce auxiliary variables and rapidly increase Hamiltonian…
In this paper we first contribute a large scale online study (N=400) to better understand aesthetic perception of aerial video. The results indicate that it is paramount to optimize smoothness of trajectories across all keyframes. However,…
Multidisciplinary engineering system design typically employs a sequential process, progressing from system dynamics to design variables and control. However, this process is inefficient and may lead to a suboptimal design. We propose…
Quadrotors with large thrust-to-weight ratios are able to track aggressive trajectories with sharp turns and high accelerations. In this work, we develop a search-based trajectory planning approach that exploits the quadrotor…