Related papers: Autonomous UAV Pipeline Near-proximity Inspection …
This article presents a Visual Servoing Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) scheme for autonomously tracking a moving target using multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The scheme is developed for surveillance and tracking of…
Automated visual inspection of on-and offshore wind turbines using aerial robots provides several benefits, namely, a safe working environment by circumventing the need for workers to be suspended high above the ground, reduced inspection…
Autonomous control of the laparoscope in robot-assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) has received considerable research interest due to its potential to improve surgical safety. Despite progress in pixel-level Image-Based Visual…
Autonomous identification and evaluation of safe landing zones are of paramount importance for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of aerial robots in the event of system failures, low battery, or the successful completion of specific…
This article proposes a novel Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) framework for Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) autonomous navigation in constrained environments. The introduced framework allows us to consider the nonlinear dynamics of…
This paper presents an approach to mutual collision avoidance based on Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) with time-dependent Reciprocal Velocity Constraints (RVCs). Unlike most existing methods, the proposed approach relies solely…
Tunnel construction using the drill-and-blast method requires the 3D measurement of the excavation front to evaluate underbreak locations. Considering the inspection and measurement task's safety, cost, and efficiency, deploying lightweight…
We present a perception constrained visual predictive control (PCVPC) algorithm for quadrotors to enable aggressive flights without using any position information. Our framework leverages nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) to…
This paper addresses the problem of real-time vision-based autonomous obstacle avoidance in unstructured environments for quadrotor UAVs. We assume that our UAV is equipped with a forward facing stereo camera as the only sensor to perceive…
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with high-resolution sensors enable extensive data collection from previously inaccessible areas at a remarkable spatio-temporal scale, promising to revolutionize fields such as precision agriculture…
This paper introduces a Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) framework for communication-aware motion planning of Multi-Rotor Aerial Vehicles (MRAVs) using Free-Space Optical (FSO) links. The scenario involves MRAVs equipped with…
The photovoltaic (PV) industry is seeing a significant shift toward large-scale solar plants, where traditional inspection methods have proven to be time-consuming and costly. Currently, the predominant approach to PV inspection using…
This article presents a novel framework for performing visual inspection around 3D infrastructures, by establishing a team of fully autonomous Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) with robust localization, planning and perception capabilities. The…
In this work, we address the estimation, planning, control and mapping problems to allow a small quadrotor to autonomously inspect the interior of hazardous damaged nuclear sites. These algorithms run onboard on a computationally limited…
We present a novel control strategy for a team of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to autonomously achieve a desired formation using only visual feedback provided by the UAV's onboard cameras. This effectively eliminates the need for global…
Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) are increasingly applied to water operations such as environmental monitoring and river-map modeling. It faces a significant challenge in achieving precise autonomous docking at ports or stations, still…
In recent years, using drone, also known as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), in close-distance visual inspection has became an active area in many disciplines. However, many challenges still remain before we can achieve autonomous inspection,…
We study the nonlinear observability of a systems states in view of how well they are observable and what control inputs would improve the convergence of their estimates. We use these insights to develop an observability-aware…
Autonomous quadrotor flight in confined spaces such as pipes and tunnels presents significant challenges due to unsteady, self-induced aerodynamic disturbances. Very recent advances have enabled flight in such conditions, but they either…
Full autonomy for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) requires the capability to autonomously detect potential landing sites in unknown and unstructured terrain, allowing for self-governed mission completion or handling of emergency…