Abstract
Abstract. During the last decade, the number of applications of UAVs has continuously increased, making the global UAV market one of those with the highest rate of growth. The worldwide increasing usage of UAVs is causing an ever-growing demand for efficient solutions in order to make them usable in every kind of working condition. In fact, nowadays the main restriction to the usage of UAVs is probably the need of reliable position estimates provided by using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS): since UAVs mostly rely on the integration of GNSS/Inertial Navigation System (INS) to properly fulfil their tasks, they face a major challenge while navigating in GNSS denied environments. The goal of this paper is that of investigating possible strategies to reduce such main restriction to UAV usage, i.e. enabling flights in GNSS denied environment by providing position estimates with accuracy quite comparable to that of standard GNSS receivers currently mounted on commercialized drones. To be more specific, this paper proposes the combined use of a novel Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) Radar, a set of Ultra-Wideband (UWB) devices, and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) measurements in order to compensate for the unavailability of the GNSS signal units. A 24-GHz micro FMCW radar and a UWB device have been attached to a quadcopter during the flight. The radar receives the reflections from ground scatterers, whereas the UWB system provides range measurements between a UWB rover mounted on the UAV and a set of UWB anchors distributed along the flying area.
Highlights
During the past decade, there has been an enormous increase in the applications utilizing fully autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
This paper presents the results obtained by the integration of a UWB and a micro radar system with Inertial Navigation System (INS), to aid the navigation of small UAV in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) denied environments
Experiments were performed by using an on-shelf commercial quadcopter (3dr Solo), with a micro Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar tilted by 60 degrees and a UWB rover attached to its belly
Summary
There has been an enormous increase in the applications utilizing fully autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). GNSS signals may be unavailable due to jamming, spoofing, blockage, or multipath Another aiding system must be integrated with the IMU, to yield a reliable navigation solution that makes the UAV capable of fulfilling its assigned tasks in a wider range of working conditions. Camera is considered as a viable solution to aid in navigation during the GNSS outage periods, as it is characterized by features that makes it suitable for small and micro UAVs like light weight, small size, and low power consumption, it provides rich information like features and colors. In the past Radar was not used with small/micro UAVs due to its weight, size, and power
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