A Mixed-Reality Experimental Indoor Testbed for Evaluation of Drone Flight Control Methods

Authors

  • Benicio B. Cruz Mechatronics Department, Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA), São José dos Campos, Brazil.
  • Jorge A. Ricardo Jr Mechatronics Department, Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA), São José dos Campos, Brazil.
  • Davi A. Santos Mechatronics Department, Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA), São José dos Campos, Brazil.

Keywords:

autonomous drones, guidance and control, indoor flight experiments, mixed reality

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental mixed-reality indoor testbed for the evaluation of drone guidance and control methods. This experimental setup comprises Crazyflie drones, an OptiTrack motion capture system for providing state feedback, and a user-friendly object-oriented MATLAB program structure for the implementation of guidance and control algorithms in real drones or real-time simulated ones. This MATLAB program, besides implementing the physics of the simulated drones and the environment, also allows the user to insert virtual flying obstacles into the scenario. The setup also features a three-dimensional photorealistic visualizer developed in Unity 3D that shows the simulated or real drones along avatars of the virtual obstacles on the same screen. The proposed testbed is illustrated with a collision-free guidance method in two scenarios: one with real drones among virtual obstacles, and another with simulated drones also among virtual obstacles, showing its effectiveness and practicality.

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Published

2024-10-18

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 1 (2024): CBA2024

Section

Articles