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Projeto de investigação
Shuttle drone for launch and capture in cooperative and non-cooperative scenarios
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Autores
Publicações
NON-COOPERATIVE CONTROL OF A SHUTTLE DRONE FOR MANNED DRONE CAPTURE
Publication . Rodrigues, Patrícia Alexandra Gonçalves; Guerreiro, Bruno
Drones have become increasingly popularized in recent years, be it in military use or
as a hobby for the general public. The increase in usage of drones poses a challenge to
security of zones where flying is monitored and prohibited for everyone, such as airports.
Unmanned aerial vehicles show great promise in tackling problems such as this, where
they must capture a drone in a set environment.
This thesis addresses this problem by studying pursuit-evasion games, human-in-theloop
as well as non-linear and predictive control in order to create an unmanned aerial
vehicle capable of pursuing and capturing a manned drone.
The full models for the ground vehicle and the RUAV were done, as well as two simple
versions of the fixed-wing UAV, and one simplified version of the RUAV. For the RUAV
two simple internal controllers were created, in order to produce the necessary forces
and torques. Next, a NMPC controller was created for each vehicle, then a simulation
of both vehicles with NMPC was done for joint-tracking, and finally for the differential
game. Lastly the human-in-the-loop was added to the NMPC of the fixed-wing, and then
to the differential game between the fixed-wing and the RUAV.
The results show that a NMPC controller is effective at handling dynamic models
and aggressive changes in trajectory while still accounting for the physical constraints
imposed. The differential game used provided the pursuit-evader scenario desired, where
it was possible to see various interactions between vehicles. Finally, the human-in-theloop
was integrated with the fixed-wing model.
CMOS Analog Simulators of Dynamical Systems
Publication . Araujo, Joao C.G.; Oliveira, Luis B.; Guerreiro, Bruno J.; Ferreira Da Silva, Filipe; DEE - Departamento de Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores; CTS - Centro de Tecnologia e Sistemas; UNINOVA-Instituto de Desenvolvimento de Novas Tecnologias; CeFITec – Centro de Física e Investigação Tecnológica; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Analog computing is based upon using physical processes to solve formal mathematical problems. In the past, it was the predominant instrument of scientific calculations. Now, as the physical limits imposed on digital devices compel research into alternate computing paradigms, a reexamination of the potentialities of analog computing is warranted. This work studies the application of analog CMOS cells toward the simulation of dynamical systems, and, more generally, solving sets of coupled time-dependent ordinary differential equations. Following a brief review of the fundamentals of systems theory and analog computing, the main set of computing elements is introduced, each comprising analog cells designed in a 130 nm process. These are subsequently applied to the realization of practical, special-purpose analog computing modules. Illustrative systems from various fields are selected for simulation. Though by no means comprehensive, these case studies highlight the capabilities of contemporary analog computing, especially in solving nonlinear problems. Circuit simulations show good agreement with solutions obtained from high-order numerical methods, at least over a limited range of system parameters. The article concludes with a brief discussion of broader analog computing applications, offering future prospects toward further exploration of its potentialities and limitations in a wide range of domains.
Instrumentation and control of a target fixed-wing drone for launch and capture
Publication . Carvalho, João Miguel Ferreira de; Guerreiro, Nuno
This work was developed within the scope of the CAPTURE project, in which a collaborative
network was intended to be built in which a quadcopter drone would help a
fixed-wing drone perform landing and takeoff maneuvers. The study of small fixed-wing
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were presented, as well as their attitude control, instrumentation,
and trajectory tracking. One of the goals of this dissertation was to model
a real vehicle, specifically the Easy Glider 4. All the work was developed based on this
vehicle, for which it was necessary to use the XFLR software to obtain its aerodynamic
response and thus obtain a more accurate model and, consequently, its control. The main
challenges of this dissertation were related to obtaining the full dynamic model (with
the aerodynamic coefficients included), the control techniques that would be used to deal
with their nonlinearities, and their integration with a path following algorithm. Two
types of attitude controllers were developed: a linear controller based on PI and a nonlinear
controller based on the backstepping technique. An external loop was then added
to make the UAV follow a specific path. Two different techniques were implemented: a
path following algorithm that would make the vehicle follow a vector field around the
intended trajectory and an adaptive algorithm capable of dealing with uncertainties in
the environment, such as wind with unknown direction and intensity.
Planning and control for cooperative launch and capture of drones
Publication . Oliveira, Diogo Nunes de; Guerreiro, Bruno
With the popularity in today’s world of using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for
different applications and the presence of these machines in various industries, the focus
on building vehicles adapted for specific tasks has increased.
The work presented was developed within the scope of Project CAPTURE which aims
to tackle the challenges of using rotary-wing shuttle drones to aid in the deployment and
landing maneuvers of fixed-wing target drones. This objective emerges as an alternative
to using higher complexity vehicles for specific applications, making use of the benefits
of each type of drone for their usual missions.
This dissertation proposes a solution for the planning and control of a shuttle drone
under a cooperative capture scenario and explores the challenges of implementing such
a system, both in a simulation environment and in real-world hardware. The developed
system was built around the PX4 ecosystem and is based on the Robot Operating System
(ROS) framework to implement a state machine-based controller for the shuttle drone,
which includes a Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy for the autonomous execution
of the capture maneuver portion of the mission. To test the developed solution on a
real system, this work also describes the instrumentation process of a real-world shuttle
drone.
Simulation results show the success of the cooperative capture maneuver under the
considered scenario, whereas preliminary experimental trials indicate that further re-
search is necessary to actually achieve a capture maneuver. Nonetheless, these experi-
mental trials validate the hardware and software integration of the developed system and
the obtained results showed promising outcomes.
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Entidade financiadora
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Programa de financiamento
3599-PPCDT
Número da atribuição
PTDC/EEI-AUT/1732/2020