Quaternion based control for circular UAV trajectory tracking, following a ground vehicle: Real-time validation

Abstract

This work proposes a quaternion-based circular trajectory tracking control scheme, in which an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) follows an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV). A trajectory is generated, including a switching technique for takeoff, positioning, and landing stages, such that the UAV describes circles over the UGV using equilibrium point bifurcations. This technique could be applied in missions where a perimeter must be inspected by heterogeneous robots, the UAV can be deployed from the UGV’s location, such that its perimeter is visualized from above. Our proposal is validated usig numerical simulations and real-time experiments.