Autonomous Landing of a UAV ona Moving UGV Platform using Cooperative MPC

Abstract: Cooperative control of autonomous multi-agent systems is a research areawhich is getting significant attention in recent years. Multi-agent systemsallow for a broad spectrum of applications and cooperation can increasetheir flexibility, efficiency and robustness to changes in external constraintsand disturbances. Focusing on autonomous vehicles, examples of possibleapplications of cooperative multi-agent systems include search and rescuemissions, autonomous delivery and performing of emergency landings.The purpose of the thesis is to develop and implement a cooperativerendezvous algorithm based on model predictive control and apply it to theproblem of autonomous landing in an indoor setting. The agents involved in themaneuver are a quadcopter and a ground carrier. The two agents cooperativelynegotiate on the optimal location for the touchdown taking also into accountrelevant spatial constraints and, if necessary, update that location, also referredto as rendezvous point, in real-time throughout the maneuver.The algorithm is first tested and validated in a simulated environment andfinally on the physical system during real-time operations.Additional scenarios are tested in the simulated environment in order tofurther inspect the potential capabilities of the developed algorithm. Thoseadditional simulations analyse how the algorithm behaves when a constantlateral wind influences the quadcopter; when the controllers operate at areduced frequency; and when the quadcopter is affected by an external Gaussiandisturbance.The developed algorithm proved to be suitable for the purpose, allowingthe agents to perform the desired maneuver in a relatively short time and witha high degree of precision.