Autonomous control of multiple quadrotors for collision-free navigation

This paper addresses the development of a set of novel autonomous control laws for the navigation of multiple mini or micro quadrotors in a workspace populated with cylindrical obstacles. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time that such a set of control inputs for the autonomous control of multiple quadrotors and avoidance of cylindrical obstacles is being derived from a single Lyapunov function. The avoidance of the cylindrical obstacles is achieved via a Minimum Distance Technique that allows a quadrotor to avoid the closest point on the curved surface of a cylinder at every unit time. In addition, the novel controllers ensure a near-to-horizontal orientation of a quadrotor at every unit time and the hovering motion exhibited by the quadrotor in a neighborhood of its target. The hovering capability has been solved completely in this paper by solving the underactuatedness of the quadrotor which allows for the design of the maximum translational velocities needed for vertical take-off and landing, and hovering. This is important in applications where payloads are sensitive to acrobatic orientations. Computer simulations that mimic real-life scenarios using cylindrical towers as obstacles in a city-like environment illustrates the effectiveness of the controllers.

Automated summary

This paper presents a new set of autonomous control laws for navigating multiple mini or micro quadrotors in a workspace with cylindrical obstacles. The control inputs for the quadrotors and avoidance of the obstacles are derived from a single Lyapunov function, which is a novel approach. The control system ensures avoidance of the cylindrical obstacles, near-to-horizontal orientation, and hovering motion, making it suitable for applications with sensitive payloads. Computer simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the controllers in scenarios with cylindrical towers as obstacles.