Stabilization and control of teams of relatively-localized micro aerial vehicles in high obstacle density areas

In the proposed project, the task of stabilization and coordination of a team of Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAV) autonomously flying in a GPS-denied environment with obstacles will be investigated. The proposed theory and methodology will be based on a visual relative localization of MAVs within the team, which relies strictly on onboard sensors and computational resources. Stabilization and coordination of particular MAVs will be realized using techniques of model predictive control with integrated ability of fast obstacle avoidance. Within the project, conditions of group stability will be analyzed, with a focus on situations in which direct visibility, and therefore also relative localization between MAVs, is interrupted by an obstacle. In addition, influence of the desired shape of the group (relative positions of MAVs) on measurement of relative localization uncertainty and on system stability during flying through areas with obstacles will be studied. The resulting system for MAV group stabilization will be experimentally verified in specified multi-MAV scenarios.

The aim of the project is to theoretically and experimentally analyse stability of teams of micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) flying through areas with high obstacle density and to study influence of required relative positions of MAVs on stability of onboard model predictive control and coordination.

Multimedia:

Publications:

V Spurný, T Báča, M Saska, R Pěnička, T Krajník, J Thomas, D Thakur, G Loianno and V Kumar. Cooperative autonomous search, grasping, and delivering in a treasure hunt scenario by a team of unmanned aerial vehicles. Journal of Field Robotics 36(1):125-148, 2019. URL PDF, DOI BibTeX

@article{spurny_jfr19,
	author = "V. Spurn\'{y} and T. B\'{a}\v{c}a and M. Saska and R. P\v{e}ni\v{c}ka and T. Krajn\'{i}k and J. Thomas and D. Thakur and G. Loianno and V. Kumar",
	title = "Cooperative autonomous search, grasping, and delivering in a treasure hunt scenario by a team of unmanned aerial vehicles",
	journal = "Journal of Field Robotics",
	volume = 36,
	number = 1,
	pages = "125-148",
	keywords = "aerial robotics, cooperative robots, mobile manipulation, planning",
	doi = "10.1002/rob.21816",
	url = "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/rob.21816",
	year = 2019,
	pdf = "data/papers/spurny2018jfr.pdf"
}

P Štěpán, T Krajnik, M Petrlik and M Saska. Vision techniques for on-board detection, following and mapping of moving targets. Journal of Field Robotics 36(1):252-269, 2019. PDF BibTeX

@article{stepan2019jfr,
	author = "P. Štěpán and T. Krajnik and M. Petrlik and M. Saska",
	title = "{Vision techniques for on-board detection, following and mapping of moving targets}",
	pages = "252-269",
	volume = 36,
	number = 1,
	journal = "Journal of Field Robotics",
	year = 2019,
	pdf = "data/papers/stepan2019jfr.pdf"
}

Martin Saska. Large sensors with adaptive shape realised by self-stabilised compact groups of micro aerial vehicles. In Robotics Research. Springer, 2020, pages 101–107. BibTeX

@incollection{saska2020large,
	title = "Large sensors with adaptive shape realised by self-stabilised compact groups of micro aerial vehicles",
	author = "Saska, Martin",
	booktitle = "Robotics Research",
	pages = "101--107",
	year = 2020,
	publisher = "Springer"
}

Robert Pěnička, Martin Saska, Christophe Reymann and Simon Lacroix. Reactive dubins traveling salesman problem for replanning of information gathering by uavs. In 2017 European Conference on Mobile Robots (ECMR). 2017, 1–6. BibTeX

@inproceedings{pvenivcka2017reactive,
	title = "Reactive dubins traveling salesman problem for replanning of information gathering by uavs",
	author = "P{\v{e}}ni{\v{c}}ka, Robert and Saska, Martin and Reymann, Christophe and Lacroix, Simon",
	booktitle = "2017 European Conference on Mobile Robots (ECMR)",
	pages = "1--6",
	year = 2017,
	organization = "IEEE"
}

Robert Pěnička, Jan Faigl, Petr Váňa and Martin Saska. Dubins orienteering problem with neighborhoods. In 2017 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS). June 2017, 1555-1562. PDF BibTeX

@inproceedings{penicka_icuas_dopn,
	author = "Robert P\v{e}ni\v{c}ka and Jan Faigl and Petr V\'{a}\v{n}a and Martin Saska",
	booktitle = "2017 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS)",
	title = "Dubins orienteering problem with neighborhoods",
	year = 2017,
	pages = "1555-1562",
	pdf = "data/papers/penicka2017icuas.pdf",
	month = "June"
}

Tomas Baca, Petr Stepan and Martin Saska. Autonomous landing on a moving car with unmanned aerial vehicle. In 2017 European Conference on Mobile Robots (ECMR). 2017, 1–6. BibTeX

@inproceedings{baca2017autonomous,
	title = "Autonomous landing on a moving car with unmanned aerial vehicle",
	author = "Baca, Tomas and Stepan, Petr and Saska, Martin",
	booktitle = "2017 European Conference on Mobile Robots (ECMR)",
	pages = "1--6",
	year = 2017,
	organization = "IEEE"
}

Martin Saska, V\'ıt Krátk\`y, Vojtěch Spurn\`y and Tomáš Báča. Documentation of dark areas of large historical buildings by a formation of unmanned aerial vehicles using model predictive control. In 2017 22nd IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA). 2017, 1–8. BibTeX

@inproceedings{saska2017documentation,
	title = "Documentation of dark areas of large historical buildings by a formation of unmanned aerial vehicles using model predictive control",
	author = "Saska, Martin and Kr{\'a}tk{\`y}, V{\'\i}t and Spurn{\`y}, Vojt{\v{e}}ch and B{\'a}{\v{c}}a, Tom{\'a}{\v{s}}",
	booktitle = "2017 22nd IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA)",
	pages = "1--8",
	year = 2017,
	organization = "IEEE"
}

Tomas Baca, Daniel Hert, Giuseppe Loianno, Martin Saska and Vijay Kumar. Model predictive trajectory tracking and collision avoidance for reliable outdoor deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles. In 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS). 2018, 6753–6760. BibTeX

@inproceedings{baca2018model,
	title = "Model predictive trajectory tracking and collision avoidance for reliable outdoor deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles",
	author = "Baca, Tomas and Hert, Daniel and Loianno, Giuseppe and Saska, Martin and Kumar, Vijay",
	booktitle = "2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)",
	pages = "6753--6760",
	year = 2018,
	organization = "IEEE"
}

Viktor Walter, Martin Saska and Antonio Franchi. Fast mutual relative localization of uavs using ultraviolet led markers. In 2018 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS). 2018, 1217–1226. BibTeX

@inproceedings{walter2018fast,
	title = "Fast mutual relative localization of uavs using ultraviolet led markers",
	author = "Walter, Viktor and Saska, Martin and Franchi, Antonio",
	booktitle = "2018 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS)",
	pages = "1217--1226",
	year = 2018,
	organization = "IEEE"
}

Viktor Walter, Nicolas Staub, Martin Saska and Antonio Franchi. Mutual localization of uavs based on blinking ultraviolet markers and 3d time-position hough transform. In 2018 IEEE 14th International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE). 2018, 298–303. BibTeX

@inproceedings{walter2018mutual,
	title = "Mutual localization of uavs based on blinking ultraviolet markers and 3d time-position hough transform",
	author = "Walter, Viktor and Staub, Nicolas and Saska, Martin and Franchi, Antonio",
	booktitle = "2018 IEEE 14th International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE)",
	pages = "298--303",
	year = 2018,
	organization = "IEEE"
}

Robert Pěnička, Jan Faigl and Martin Saska. Variable neighborhood search for the set orienteering problem and its application to other orienteering problem variants. European Journal of Operational Research 276(3):816–825, 2019. BibTeX

@article{pvenivcka2019variable,
	title = "Variable neighborhood search for the set orienteering problem and its application to other orienteering problem variants",
	author = "P{\v{e}}ni{\v{c}}ka, Robert and Faigl, Jan and Saska, Martin",
	journal = "European Journal of Operational Research",
	volume = 276,
	number = 3,
	pages = "816--825",
	year = 2019,
	publisher = "Elsevier"
}

Robert Pěnička, Jan Faigl, Martin Saska and Petr Váňa. Data collection planning with non-zero sensing distance for a budget and curvature constrained unmanned aerial vehicle. Autonomous Robots 43(8):1937–1956, 2019. BibTeX

@article{pvenivcka2019data,
	title = "Data collection planning with non-zero sensing distance for a budget and curvature constrained unmanned aerial vehicle",
	author = "P{\v{e}}ni{\v{c}}ka, Robert and Faigl, Jan and Saska, Martin and V{\'a}{\v{n}}a, Petr",
	journal = "Autonomous Robots",
	volume = 43,
	number = 8,
	pages = "1937--1956",
	year = 2019,
	publisher = "Springer"
}

Wojciech Giernacki, Dariusz Horla, Tomáš Báča and Martin Saska. Real-Time Model-Free Minimum-Seeking Autotuning Method for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Controllers Based on Fibonacci-Search Algorithm. Sensors 19(2):312, 2019. BibTeX

@article{giernacki2019real,
	title = "Real-Time Model-Free Minimum-Seeking Autotuning Method for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Controllers Based on Fibonacci-Search Algorithm",
	author = "Giernacki, Wojciech and Horla, Dariusz and B{\'a}{\v{c}}a, Tom{\'a}{\v{s}} and Saska, Martin",
	journal = "Sensors",
	volume = 19,
	number = 2,
	pages = 312,
	year = 2019,
	publisher = "Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute"
}

David Zahrádka, Robert Pěnička and Martin Saska. Route Planning for Teams of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Using Dubins Vehicle Model with Budget Constraint. In International Conference on Modelling and Simulation for Autonomous Systesm. 2018, 365–389. BibTeX

@inproceedings{zahradka2018route,
	title = "Route Planning for Teams of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Using Dubins Vehicle Model with Budget Constraint",
	author = "Zahr{\'a}dka, David and P{\v{e}}ni{\v{c}}ka, Robert and Saska, Martin",
	booktitle = "International Conference on Modelling and Simulation for Autonomous Systesm",
	pages = "365--389",
	year = 2018,
	organization = "Springer"
}

Petr Ješke, Štěpán Klouček and Martin Saska. Autonomous Compact Monitoring of Large Areas Using Micro Aerial Vehicles with Limited Sensory Information and Computational Resources. In International Conference on Modelling and Simulation for Autonomous Systesm. 2018, 158–171. BibTeX

@inproceedings{jevske2018autonomous,
	title = "Autonomous Compact Monitoring of Large Areas Using Micro Aerial Vehicles with Limited Sensory Information and Computational Resources",
	author = "Je{\v{s}}ke, Petr and Klou{\v{c}}ek, {\v{S}}t{\v{e}}p{\'a}n and Saska, Martin",
	booktitle = "International Conference on Modelling and Simulation for Autonomous Systesm",
	pages = "158--171",
	year = 2018,
	organization = "Springer"
}

Alexander Dubeň, Robert Pěnička and Martin Saska. Information Gathering Planning with Hermite Spline Motion Primitives for Aerial Vehicles with Limited Time of Flight. In International Conference on Modelling and Simulation for Autonomous Systesm. 2018, 172–201. BibTeX

@inproceedings{dubevn2018information,
	title = "Information Gathering Planning with Hermite Spline Motion Primitives for Aerial Vehicles with Limited Time of Flight",
	author = "Dube{\v{n}}, Alexander and P{\v{e}}ni{\v{c}}ka, Robert and Saska, Martin",
	booktitle = "International Conference on Modelling and Simulation for Autonomous Systesm",
	pages = "172--201",
	year = 2018,
	organization = "Springer"
}

Václav Pritzl, Lukáš Vojtěch, Marek Neruda and Martin Saska. Real-Time Localization of Transmission Sources by a Formation of Helicopters Equipped with a Rotating Directional Antenna. In International Conference on Modelling and Simulation for Autonomous Systesm. 2018, 335–350. BibTeX

@inproceedings{pritzl2018real,
	title = "Real-Time Localization of Transmission Sources by a Formation of Helicopters Equipped with a Rotating Directional Antenna",
	author = "Pritzl, V{\'a}clav and Vojt{\v{e}}ch, Luk{\'a}{\v{s}} and Neruda, Marek and Saska, Martin",
	booktitle = "International Conference on Modelling and Simulation for Autonomous Systesm",
	pages = "335--350",
	year = 2018,
	organization = "Springer"
}

Tomas Baca, Martin Jilek, Petr Manek, Petr Stibinger, Vladimir Linhart, Jan Jakubek and Martin Saska. Timepix Radiation Detector for Autonomous Radiation Localization and Mapping by Micro Unmanned Vehicles. In IEEE/RSJ IROS. 2019. BibTeX

@inproceedings{baca2019classification,
	title = "Timepix Radiation Detector for Autonomous Radiation Localization and Mapping by Micro Unmanned Vehicles",
	author = "Baca, Tomas and Jilek, Martin and Manek, Petr and Stibinger, Petr and Linhart, Vladimir and Jakubek, Jan and Saska, Martin",
	booktitle = "IEEE/RSJ IROS",
	year = 2019
}

Vojtech Spurny, Matej Petrlik, Vojtech Vonasek and Martin Saska. Cooperative transport of large objects by a pair of unmanned aerial systems using sampling-based motion planning. In 2019 24th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA). 2019, 955–962. BibTeX

@inproceedings{spurny2019cooperative,
	title = "Cooperative transport of large objects by a pair of unmanned aerial systems using sampling-based motion planning",
	author = "Spurny, Vojtech and Petrlik, Matej and Vonasek, Vojtech and Saska, Martin",
	booktitle = "2019 24th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA)",
	pages = "955--962",
	year = 2019,
	organization = "IEEE"
}