An Unmanned Aerial Carrier and Anchoring Mechanism for Transporting Companion UAVs

Yiyong Gou, Lucas Dahl, Jan Krüger, Cavid Karca, Dean Boonen, Rico Möckel

2021

Abstract

This paper demonstrates an unmanned aerial carrier as well as a new anchoring mechanism for connecting and transporting companion unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Establishing this platform presents unique challenges including the requirements of precise localization of the platform, real-time environment mapping system, robust flight control approach, docking safety mechanism, and reliable anchor system for the companion UAV. To obtain the positioning information, a tightly-coupled visual-inertial optimization based odometry is implemented with a fisheye camera and an inertial measurement unit. A 3D map is updated in real-time using an Octomap framework. A nonlinear position model predictive controller cascaded with a DJI attitude controller is implemented for the flight control. Innovatively, we designed a lightweight anchoring mechanism for safe landing and reliable transportation of the companion UAV. Real-world experiments results suggest that the transportation system is a viable approach to transport the companion UAV, and that the proposed anchoring mechanism allows for reliable operation.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Gou Y., Dahl L., Krüger J., Karca C., Boonen D. and Möckel R. (2021). An Unmanned Aerial Carrier and Anchoring Mechanism for Transporting Companion UAVs. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Robotics, Computer Vision and Intelligent Systems - Volume 1: ROBOVIS, ISBN 978-989-758-537-1, pages 103-112. DOI: 10.5220/0010655500003061

in Bibtex Style

@conference{robovis21,
author={Yiyong Gou and Lucas Dahl and Jan Krüger and Cavid Karca and Dean Boonen and Rico Möckel},
title={An Unmanned Aerial Carrier and Anchoring Mechanism for Transporting Companion UAVs},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Robotics, Computer Vision and Intelligent Systems - Volume 1: ROBOVIS,},
year={2021},
pages={103-112},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0010655500003061},
isbn={978-989-758-537-1},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Robotics, Computer Vision and Intelligent Systems - Volume 1: ROBOVIS,
TI - An Unmanned Aerial Carrier and Anchoring Mechanism for Transporting Companion UAVs
SN - 978-989-758-537-1
AU - Gou Y.
AU - Dahl L.
AU - Krüger J.
AU - Karca C.
AU - Boonen D.
AU - Möckel R.
PY - 2021
SP - 103
EP - 112
DO - 10.5220/0010655500003061