Synthesized Landing Strategy for Quadcopter to Land Precisely on a Vertically Moving Apron

Nguyen Xuan Mung, Ngoc Phi Nguyen, Dinh Ba Pham, Nhu Ngoc Dao and Sung Kyung Hong
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Nguyen Xuan Mung: Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Korea
Ngoc Phi Nguyen: Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Korea
Dinh Ba Pham: Department Mechanical Engineering, Vietnam Maritime University, Haiphong 180000, Vietnam
Nhu Ngoc Dao: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Korea
Sung Kyung Hong: Department of Aerospace Engineering, Convergence Engineering for Intelligent Drone, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Korea

Mathematics, 2022, vol. 10, issue 8, 1-14

Abstract: Quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicles have become increasingly popular for various real-world applications, and a significant body of literature exists regarding the improvement of their flight capabilities to render them fully autonomous. The precise landing onto moving platforms, such as ship decks, is one of the remaining challenges that is largely unresolved. The reason why this operation poses a considerable challenge is because landing performance is considerably degraded by the ground effect or external disturbances. In this paper, we propose a synthesized landing algorithm that allows a quadcopter to land precisely on a vertically moving pad. Firstly, we introduce a disturbance observer-based altitude controller that allows the vehicle to perform robust altitude flight in the presence of external disturbances and the ground effect, strictly proving the system’s stability using Lyapunov’s theory. Secondly, we derive an apron state estimator to provide information on the landing target’s relative position. Additionally, we propose a landing planner to ensure that the landing task is completed in a safe and reliable manner. Finally, the proposed algorithms are implemented in an actual quadcopter, and we demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of our method through real flight experiments.

Keywords: quadcopter; precision landing; moving apron; disturbance observer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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