Proceedings of the 2015 IFAC Workshop on Advanced Control

and Navigation
Proceedings of for
theAutonomous Aerospace
2015 IFAC Workshop on Vehicles
Advanced Control
Proceedings of for
JuneNavigation
and theSeville,
10-12, 2015. 2015 IFAC Workshop
Spain
Autonomous on Vehicles
Aerospace Advanced
Available Control
online at www.sciencedirect.com
and
JuneNavigation forSeville,
10-12, 2015. Autonomous
Spain Aerospace Vehicles
June 10-12, 2015. Seville, Spain
ScienceDirect
UAV helicopter relativeIFAC-PapersOnLine
state estimation48-9 (2015) 037–042
for autonomous landing on moving
UAV helicopter relative state
platforms estimation
in a GPS-denied for autonomous
scenario landing on moving
UAV helicopter relative state estimation for autonomous landing on moving
platforms in a GPS-denied scenario
platforms in a GPS-denied scenario
Francisco Alarcon, Daniel Santamaria,
Francisco Alarcon, Daniel Santamaria,
Antidio Viguria.
Francisco Alarcon, Daniel Santamaria,
Antidio Viguria.
Antidio Viguria.
Center for Advanced Aerospace Technologies (CATEC),
Seville, Spain (Tel:Center for Advancede-mail:
+34-954-179-002; Aerospace Technologies (CATEC),
{falarcon/dsantamaria/aviguria}@ catec.aero).
Seville, Spain (Tel:Center for Advancede-mail:
+34-954-179-002; Aerospace Technologies (CATEC),
{falarcon/dsantamaria/aviguria}@ catec.aero).
Seville, Spain (Tel: +34-954-179-002; e-mail: {falarcon/dsantamaria/aviguria}@ catec.aero).
Abstract: The objective of this work is to describe an innovative relative position and velocity state
Abstract:
estimationThe objective
approach for of this work
rotatory wingisUAV to describe
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a rope. An relative positionlanding
autonomous and velocity
of a UAV state
Abstract:
helicopter The
estimation in aobjective
approachstatic forandof inthis
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mobilewing isUAV
to describe
platform linked an
withinnovative
in absence a rope.
of GPS An relative
are position
autonomous
presented and velocity
as landing
application of aofUAVstate
this
estimation
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a static for
relative rotatory
andestimation wing
in mobileisplatform UAV
obtained in linked
using with
absence
a device a rope.
of GPS An autonomous
are presented
that provides landing
as application
rope orientation, of a UAV
of this
and tension
helicopter
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information, inan a altimeter
The static
relativeandand in anmobile
estimationIMU. isplatform
obtained
All in
usingabsence
this information isofcombined
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technology. The relative estimation is obtained using a device that
information, an altimeter and an IMU. All this information is combined using a sensor fusion strategy. provides rope orientation, and tension
© 2015, IFAC
Keywords:
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Keywords: GPS denied. systems, autonomous landing, autonomous vehicles, UAV, sensor fusion, rotatory
Keywords:
wing UAV,Navigation
GPS denied. systems, autonomous landing, autonomous vehicles, UAV, sensor fusion, rotatory
wing UAV, GPS denied. 
 the image processing is fused with the relative position and
1. INTRODUCTION  the image processing is fused
1. INTRODUCTION velocity solution obtained with with the relative
a differential GPSposition
with carrierand
During the last decade, UAV related research has increased the
1. INTRODUCTION phaseimage
velocity processing
solution
measurements; aiswireless
obtained fused
with with the relative
acommunication
differential position
GPSlink withbetween and
carrier
During the lastwithin
exponentially decade, theUAV related
military and research has increased
civilian because these phase velocity solution
the twomeasurements; obtained
aircrafts is used with
a wireless
to transmita differential
communication GPS
the measurements with carrier
link between
of their
During
vehiclesthe
exponentially
offerlastwithin
a decade,
wide the rangeUAV of related
military and research
practical civilian has increased
because
applications. these phase
(Maza, the twomeasurements;
sensors aircrafts is used
(Williamson, a wireless
et to transmit
al., 2009). communication
the measurements link between
of their
exponentially
vehicles offer within
a wide the
range military
of and
practical civilian because
applications. these
(Maza, the two (Williamson,
sensors aircrafts is used et to transmit
al., 2009). the measurements of their
et al., 2011) and (Xiang & Tian, 2007). Other type of vision algorithms are based on the
vehicles offer a wide range of practical applications. (Maza, sensors (Williamson, et al., algorithms
2009).
et
In al., 2011)
recent and
years (Xiang
researchers & Tian,have2007).intensively worked in the Other type ofof vision
implementation known patterns in thearereference
based platform.
on the
et
In al., 2011)
recent and
years (Xiang
researchers & Tian,
have 2007).
intensively worked in the Other type
implementation
development of controllers for the different flight phases of In these cases the obtained images are compared with of of vision
known algorithms
patterns in theare based
reference on the
platform. the
In recent
development
the autonomousyears researchers
of controllers have intensively
for the different
helicopter missions. worked
flight phases
These phases in
could be the
of knownimplementation
In thesepatterns of known
cases theandobtained patterns in
images are
it is possible the reference
compared
to obtain platform.
the with the
relative
development
the autonomous
classified in ofvertical
controllers
helicopter for thehovering,
missions.
takeoff, different flight phases
These phases
navigation couldand of known
be In thesepatterns
position cases the
between andobtained
them it(Matthias images
is possible are compared
s.f.). the with
to obtain
Faessler, the
relative
the autonomous
classified
landing (Fang, helicopter
in vertical
et al., 2008). missions.
takeoff,
Because These
hovering,
autonomousphases
navigation could
helicopters be known
and position patterns
Recent between
studies them and
related it is
(Matthias possible to obtain
Faessler, s.f.).
with innovative the relative
landing control
classified
landing
are highly(Fang,innonvertical
et lineal
al., 2008). takeoff,
Because
systems, hovering,
a lot autonomousnavigation
of researchers helicoptershave position
Recent between
and techniques studies
have shownthem
related (Matthias
thatwith Faessler,
innovative
helicopter linked s.f.).
landing control
with the landing
landing
are (Fang,
highly
focused theirnon et lineal
work al.,in2008). Because
systems,
the dynamic autonomous
a control
lot of problems helicopters
researchers (Wang, Recent studies
have techniques
platform byhavea rope related
shown thatwith
improves theinnovative
helicopter linkedoflanding
stability with
the the control
landing
vehicle by
are highly
focused their non worklineal
in systems,
the dynamic a lot
controlof researchers
problems have
(Wang, techniques
platform by have
a shown
rope that helicopter
improves the linkedofwith
stability the the landing
vehicle by
et al., 2009). One of the most important conclusions is the applying a certain level of tension in the rope(Sandino, et al.,
focused
et al., their work
2009). One in the
of the most
dynamic controlconclusions
important problems (Wang, is the platform
applying bycertain
a a ropelevel improves
of the stability
tension in the of the vehicle
rope(Sandino, et by
al.,
importance of using adequate sensors for the different phases 2014). The work presented here uses the same configuration
et al., 2009).
importance
of flight inof using One of
order adequatethe most
to solvesensors important conclusions
for the different
the control problems.phases is the
The for applying
2014). a certain
The work
obtaining level
presented
an accurate of tension
here uses
relative in the rope(Sandino,
the same
position et
configuration
and velocity al.,
of the
importance
of flight inof using
order adequate
to solve sensors
the
autonomous landing is the most complex and critical phase for the
control different
problems. phases
The 2014).
for
RUAV The
obtaining
with work
an
respectpresented
accurate
to the here
relative
attacheduses the
position
point same
and
of configuration
velocity
the rope.ofThisthe
of flighta high
autonomous
because in landing
order
level is to the
of solve
mostthe
accuracy andcontrol
complex andproblems.
reliability critical
is needed The
phase in RUAVfor obtaining
measurement andepends
with respect accurate
to the relative
only onposition
attached pointand
on-board velocity
the rope.ofThis
of systems: the
rope
autonomous
because
the GNCa(Guidance landing is
high levelNavigation the
of accuracymost and complex
and and
reliability
Control) critical
solution. phase
is needed in measurementRUAV with
orientation, altituderespect to the
depends measurement attached
only on on-board point of
(or rope the rope.
systems: This
rope
length),
because
the GNCto
In order a(Guidance
high levelNavigation
implement of accuracy
a navigation and and reliability
Control)
system an is
forsolution. needed in measurement
autonomous orientation,
magnetometer altitude depends
measurements only and
measurementon on-board (or rope
acceleration systems: rope
and length),
angular
the
In GNC
order to
landing (Guidance
onimplement Navigation
a mobile aplatform, navigation and Control)
it system solution.
for an autonomous
is necessary to have the velocity orientation,
magnetometer data fromaltitude
measurements measurement
an Inertial Measurement (or
and acceleration rope
Unit and(IMU). length),
angular
This
In order to magnetometer measurements and acceleration and angular
landing
feedback onofimplement
amultiple
mobile sensorsaplatform,
navigation system
for itmeasuring forand
is necessary an autonomous
to have the velocity
determining data from
relative position isancompletely
Inertial Measurement
independentUnit from (IMU). This
the GPS,
landing
feedback onof amultiple
mobile sensors platform, for itmeasuring
is necessary and to have the velocity
determining relative data fromisancompletely
position Inertial Measurement
independent Unit
from (IMU).
the This
GPS,
the state of the vehicle: position, velocity and attitude. The and represents a,cheap and reliable alternative positioning
feedback
the of
state of used
commonly multiple
the vehicle: sensors
navigation for
position, measuring
strategyvelocity
is aand and determining
attitude. The
combination of and relative
system position
represents
for tethered is
a,cheapcompletely
RUAV and independent
or reliable from the
alternative positioning
multicopters. GPS,
the state
commonly of the
used vehicle:
navigation position,
strategy
global satellite navigation systems (GNSS) and inertial velocity
is a and attitude.
combination The
of and
system
This represents
for
paper tethered
is a,cheap
RUAV
organized and
as or reliable alternative
multicopters.
follows. In positioning
the next section the
commonly
global used
satellite
measurement units navigation
navigation
(IMU). Using strategy
systems sensor is a
(GNSS) combination
fusion and inertial
strategies of
as This system
problem for
paper tethered
is organized
description RUAV or
and formulation multicopters.
as follows. is In presented.
the next sectionIn Section the
global satellite
measurement
the Kalman unitsnavigation
filter (IMU).
(Solimeno, systems
Using 2007)sensor (GNSS)
thisfusion and inertial
strategies
combination as This
can III a paper
problem detailed is organized
description explanation as follows.
and formulationof the is In the next
presented.
systems andsection
In required
Sectionthe
measurement
the Kalman units (IMU).
filter accuracy
(Solimeno, Using 2007)sensor fusion strategies
this combination as problem
III a detailed
can hardware description
is given. and
explanation formulation
Section IV of is is presented.
thedevoted
systemsto and In Section
required
describe the
provide a position of some meters. However, a more
the Kalman
provide asolution filterisaccuracy
position (Solimeno, of 2007) this combination III a detailed
can hardware isfrom explanation
given. of is
Sectiondescription
IV thedevoted
systems
to the to and required
describe the
accurate required forsome
landing meters. However, a more
purposes. algorithms, a general implementation
provide
accurate a position
solution is accuracy
required of some
for landing meters. However,
purposes. a more hardware
algorithms, isfrom
given.a Sectiondescription
general IV is devoted to the to describe the
implementation
Between the different strategies for improving the accuracy of the global and relative navigation algorithms. Two
accurate solution
Between the differentis required for landing
strategies purposes.the accuracy of algorithms,
the global fromresults
a general
and relative description
navigation to the
hereimplementation
algorithms.
describedTwo
of the relative navigation, it isforpossible
improving to find lot of different flight of the technology are
Between
of the the
relative different
navigation,strategiesit for
is improving
possible to the
findaccuracy
lot of of
shownthe
different inglobal
flight
section and
results
V. relative
of
The the navigation
technology
first experiment algorithms.
here in Section Two
described are
V.a
researches that use electro-optical sensors for obtaining
of the
researches relative
that navigation,
use it
electro-optical is possible
sensors to for find lot
obtaining of different
shown
presents in flight
asection results
comparisonV. of
The thefirst
technology
between experiment
the hereindescribed
relative Section
positioningare
V.a
relative position solutions through image processing (Bagen,
researches
relative that
position use
solutions electro-optical
through sensors for obtaining shown in
presents aand section
comparisonV. The first
between experiment
thein relative in Section
a landingpositioning V.a
et al., 2009). Another example is inimage
(Hsia, processing
et al., 2012)(Bagen,where estimation the RTK GPS solution maneuver
relative
et al., position
2009). solutions throughis inimage processing (Bagen, presents the aattached
estimation andcomparison
the RTKpoint GPS between ropetheisinnot
solution relative
a landing positioning
maneuver
the altitude isAnother
obtained example
with respect (Hsia, et al.,by
the ground 2012)
fusing wherethe when of the moving. Section
et al., 2009).isAnother example is in (Hsia, etprovided
al.,by2012) estimation and
the the RTK GPS solution innot
a landing maneuver
the
GPS altitude
measurements obtained with withtherespect
stereo the ground
vision bywhere
fusing the when
two V.b. the attached
shows pointestimation
relative of the ropeof is
an moving.
autonomous Section
RUAV
the
GPS altitude
cameras. is obtained
measurements
Also therewith with
are the respect the
stereomethods
fusion ground
vision thatbyhave
provided fusing
bybeen the when
two V.b. the attached
shows
that tracks athemoving point
relative of the (where
estimation
platform ropeof is not
anthe moving.
autonomous
rope Section
RUAV
is attached)
GPS
cameras.measurements with the stereo vision provided by two V.b.
that shows
tracks athe relative
moving estimation
platform of
(where an autonomous
the rope is RUAV
attached)
developed Also thererefuelling
for flight are fusion of twomethods that Inhave
aircrafts. this been
case and it finalizes with a successful landing.
cameras. Also there are fusion methods that have been that
developed for flight refuelling of two aircrafts. In this case and it finalizes with a successful landing. tracks a moving platform (where the rope is attached)
developed for flight refuelling of two aircrafts. In this case and it finalizes with a successful landing.
Copyright
2405-8963 ©© 2015,
2015 IFAC 37 Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control)
Copyright
Peer review©under
2015 responsibility
IFAC 37 Control.
of International Federation of Automatic
Copyright © 2015 IFAC
10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.08.056 37
IFAC ACNAAV 2015
38
June 10-12, 2015. Seville, Spain Francisco Alarcon et al. / IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-9 (2015) 037–042

2. PROBLEM DESCRIPTION AND FORMULATION Initial RUAV platform configuration

The experiments here presented were performed with a RC
Three different reference frames are considered in this work.
platform Aerotech Cb-5000 that was converted into a RUAV.
The diameter of its rotor is 1.8m and the rotor speed
Body frame:
approximately 1300 rpm. The aircraft was equipped with a
The body frame is a non-inertial coordinate system associated
PC104 processing unit, a NAV 440 system that provides GPS
with the vehicle with the origin at its center of gravity. The x-
and IMU measurements and a Crossbow magnetometer in
axis points in the forward direction, the z-axis down through
order to have an accurate magnetic heading measure.
the vehicle and the y-axis completes the right-hand
coordinate system. This frame will be denoted by the
Specific RUAV tether-based configuration.
superscript b.
In order to incorporate a relative localization and moving
platform landing capabilities, the RUAV described before
Inertial navigation frame
was equipped with the following additional sensors:
This is an inertial coordinate system oriented in the north,
 A ROKE MRII laser altimeter. This sensor provides
east and down direction. It is determined by fitting a tangent
measurements of the relative altitude between the
plane to the geodetic reference ellipsoid at fixed point. This
RUAV and the landing place with centimetre
point is taken as the origin of the coordinate system. The x-
accuracy.
axis points to the true North, the y-axis points the West and
the z-axis points up. This frame will be denoted by the  A specific cardan joint device was created. This
superscript n. device is shown in Figure 2 and it is composed of 2-
axis coupled cardan joints equipped with magnetic
Device frame: encoders attached to each axis. This device is used
The tether frame is a non-inertial coordinate system to estimate the angles between the rope and the
associated with the cardan joint mechanism. It has its origin helicopter frame in terms of 2 successive rotations
in the point where the tether is connected with the helicopter. of the cardan joint. It has also a security rope release
x and y axes rotates with respect to the fuselage of the system and a load sensor to measure the tension
helicopter and the z axis is always pointing towards the level of the rope
landing point. This frame will be denoted by the superscript t.  A centimetre precision RTK GPS positioning
This frame is shown in Figure 1 together with the body axes system was integrated into the RUAV. Its
frame. measurements were used as a reference of the
positioning accuracy obtained by the relative rope
estimation algorithms here presented and were not
used for control purposes.

Figure 1: Tether frame representation.

GNC approaches:
Two different GNC strategies are considered in this paper for
the different flight phases to be accomplished and the type of
sensor information that is required to perform the mission in
a safe way. Figure 2: Cardan joint device.
The first GNC approach is the most commonly used for UAS
for static platform take off and waypoint navigation in 3.2 Moving platform architecture
absolute coordinates. Using this approach it is possible to
accomplish the mission requirements without centimeter Additionally to the RUAV onboard equipment a moving
position accuracy fusing INS/GPS information. landing platform equipped with dedicated rope winding up
A second GNC approach is used for the landing phase, which device was developed (Figure 3).
requires a high accuracy, or when a hovering is required
around the moving landing platform in a GPS-denied
scenario. This GNC approach is based on the rope sensors
installed onboard the helicopter.
3. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
In this section all the different components of the onboard
sensors and ground equipment used in the experiments are
described.

3.1 RUAV and Onboard tether sensors

Figure 3: Moving platform

38
 IFAC ACNAAV 2015
June 10-12, 2015. Seville, Spain Francisco Alarcon et al. / IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-9 (2015) 037–042 39
The moving platform is based on a modified trailer equipped
with a modular landing pad structure of 3 by 3 meters and a
central box that contain all the equipment related with the
rope winding up mechanism.
4. NAVIGATION ALGORITMHS DEVELOPMENT
4.1 GNC blocks description
GNC algorithms are separated in blocks attending of the
functionality that implement. The Estimator or Navigation
block implements all the absolute and relative UAV state
estimation. The Guidance Block contains the state machine
with the logic to guide the UAS during the different phases of
flight and provides the position references. This block also
generates the signal that triggers the GNC strategy from using
absolute information to relative and vice versa. Finally the
control algorithms of the UAV are contained in the Controller
block. The general scheme of the GNC architecture is shown
in Figure 4.
Figure 4: GNC architecture.
4.2 Absolute positioning fusing GPS/INS EKF/magnetometer
data.
In the takeoff and navigation phases of the helicopter a global
positioning estimator is used. The purpose of this system is
to combine the data of the GPS, INS and others sensors in an
optimal way to obtain a navigation system with both higher
update rate and smaller position error than the standalone
GPS-receiver.
In this project a loosely coupled scheme that fuses the INS,
GPS and magnetometer is used. In a loosely coupled
integrated system, the GPS receiver has its own Kalman
filter. This filter calculates the user position and velocity by
processing the pseudorange and Doppler measurements that
have been measured by the GPS chip. The differences
between the INS and GPS calculated positions and velocities
are utilized as measurements for a second Kalman filter in
which INS error dynamics equations are used as system
model. In this way, this second filter is able to provide
estimations of all the observable INS errors, which are
consequently used to correct the IMU raw measurements and
to compensate the system output. In Figure 5 the scheme
used in this navigation algorithm is shown.
39
Figure 5: Loosely coupled scheme.
4.3 Relative positioning algorithm fusing
INS/tether/altimeter data
The relative positioning estimator is used in the landing
phase of the autonomous helicopter on static or mobile
platforms. This is a critical manoeuvre that endangers the
safety of the vehicle, the landing site and staff that could be
in the surrounding. Therefore, a technique to estimate the
position in real time with high accuracy is needed in order to
successfully accomplish an autonomous landing safely.
This system uses the data provided by the tether system
(angles α, β and Tension T), the altitude of the altimeter (halt),
the accelerations and angular velocities of the INS (ab, ω) and
the magnetic field measurements of the magnetometer (mb).
This information is processed and transformed to the
navigational axes. The sensor fusion algorithm is then fed
with the Euler angles of the helicopter (ϕ, ϴ, ψ), the
measured relative position (Prelm) and the accelerations in the
navigational frame (an). This scheme is shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6: Relative Positioning Architecture
For understanding the architecture, the main blocks of the
estimator are explained below.
AHRS
The Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) is the
module in charge of calculating the attitude of the UAV. The
attitude is defined as the inclination of its body-axes
reference frame to the navigation reference frame which in
this project is defined as a NWU (North West Up) Local
Tangent Plane reference frame.
The AHRS algorithm uses the angular rate measurements
from the gyroscopes to update the previous attitude
estimation. After updating the previous attitude solution with
the gyroscope measurements, this estimation is corrected
using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). The goal of this
Kalman Filter is estimating the attitude errors in the current
attitude estimation to remove them.
The measurements of the attitude errors of the current attitude
estimation are obtained using the measurements provided by
IFAC ACNAAV 2015
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June 10-12, 2015. Seville, Spain Francisco Alarcon et al. / IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-9 (2015) 037–042
the accelerometers and the magnetometer. The magnetometer
measurements are used to calculate the yaw of the UAV and
the difference between this value and the current estimation is
used as the measurement of the yaw error. In a similar way,
the outputs of the accelerometers are used to calculate the
measurements of the roll and pitch errors.
Conversion
This block is in charge of calculating the relative position of
the landing point to the helicopter. This is done through the
measurement of the tether system, the altimeter and the
results of the AHRS. In Figure 7 a graphical description of
the landing scenario with all the components that take part in
the conversion block is shown.
Figure 7: Landing scenario components.
The first step in this block is to obtain the relative position
measurement in the contact point (CP) of the tether with the
fuselage. The CP of the vehicle and the altimeter are not
placed at exactly the same position. This spatial separation
causes small differences in position and velocity due to the
lever-arm effect. In this landing phase it is necessary to have
as much accuracy as possible; the measurement of the
altimeter must be corrected according to equations (1) and
(2):
(1)
(2)
Once the altitude to the contact point has been calculated, it is
possible to obtain the position relative to the landing point in
the navigation axes. This can be done by using the equation
(3) where Pt is the position vector in the tether frame.
(3)
In the tether frame the landing point is in the Z axis so their
coordinates are [0, 0, zt]. So that (3) can be written as:
(4)
Coordinates in the navigation frame are obtained by using (4)
in (5), (6) and (7).
(5)
(6)
(7)
Once the relative coordinates have been calculated, the result
has to be translated to the centre of mass of the vehicle. For
doing that, it is used again a lever arm correction.
(8)
This result is used as the measurement of the relative position
and it will feed the sensor fusion block.
40
Sensor Fusion
This block is in charge of fusing the measures of attitude,
acceleration and relative position. The algorithm
implemented is a Kalman filter that runs at 100 Hz and
calculates a solution for the relative position and velocity
between the UAV and the landing point.
The model implemented in the Kalman filter uses relative
kinematics equations. It assumes that the acceleration of the
landing platform is not too big so it can be modelled as an
unknown bias with a Gaussian noise. The Kalman matrices of
the filter are weighted depending on the tension of the tether
T.
The outputs of this block will feed the controller of the
helicopter providing the attitude of the UAV and a very
accurate solution for the relative position and velocity.
5.EXPERIMENTAL FLIGHT RESULTS
Several experiments have been performed during 2014 in
order to test the technology developed for the autonomous
landing based on the tether system. In these experiments all
the guidance, control and navigation modules of the autopilot
were involved. These experiments were focused in the
landing procedure and their relative control and estimation
modules. Figure 8 shows the helicopter and the mobile
platform used in the experiments.
Figure 8: Experiment Setup
5.1 Static platform experiment
The objective of this experiment was to validate that the
solution of the relative estimator allows the UAV to land
safely in a static platform. Experiments were performed with
different environmental conditions, for example windy
conditions.
Figure 9: Landing in a static platform.
The helicopter took off with the rope already attached but
with a low level of tension commanded into the winding up
control system. Once the helicopter was flying in
autonomous mode close to the attaching point, the operator
commanded the control system to increase progressively the
tension level up to 20N. In Figure 10 and Figure 11 the
position outputs of the relative estimator are compared with
 IFAC ACNAAV 2015
June 10-12, 2015. Seville, Spain Francisco Alarcon et al. / IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-9 (2015) 037–042 41

the RTK-GPS logged during a landing manoeuvre. It is 0.4 RTK-GPS

Estimator
possible to see that the estimated relative position is very 0.2
accurate, and even in the vertical plane, it is very difficult to
0
differentiate between the solutions of the RTK GPS in

Velocity Z(m/s)
comparison with this new estimation approach. -0.2

6 -0.4
RTK-GPS
Estimator
4 -0.6

2 -0.8
Position X(m)

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

time(s)
0
Figure 13: Vertical Velocity
-2

-4
Velocity X North Y West Altitude
-6
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
RMS error (m/s) 0.0773 0.0725 0.0557
time(s)
STD 0.1971 0.1604 0.0756
Figure 10: Horizontal Position
9 Table 2: Velocity RMS error and standard deviation media.
Altimeter
8 Estimator

7 5.2 Mobile platform experiment

6

These set of experiments were conducted to validate that the

Altitude(m)

4 solution of the relative estimator allows the UAV to land

3 safely in a mobile platform. Experiments were performed
2
with different environmental conditions and velocities of the
1
landing platform which was towed by a 4x4. Figure 9 shows
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 a snapshot of the experiments.
time(s)

Figure 11: Vertical Position

Root mean square error and the standard deviation of the
relative position calculated with the estimator are shown in
Table 1. Positioning errors are below 20 cm, hence the
accuracy is good enough for landing perfectly in the platform
in absence of GPS.
Position X North Y West Altitude
RMS error (m) 0.1467 0.1816 0.0043
STD 0.3451 0.3894 0.0067
Table 1: RMS error and Standard Deviation Media of
Position Figure 14: Mobile platform experiment
The velocity outputs of the relative estimator are compared In these experiments, only the UAV RTK position
with the RTK-GPS measurements logged during the measurements were available and there was not any
experiment in Figure 12 and Figure 13. The solution obtained positioning information of the moving platform.
by using the tether system is also very accurate for the
velocity. In Table 2 the calculated errors are shown. Figure 15 shows the results of the relative estimator and the
measurements logged from the RTK receiver of the UAV
2 using 2 different scales and colours
RTK-GPS
1.5 Estimator

0.5
Velocity X(m/s)

-0.5

-1

-1.5

-2
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
time(s)
Figure 12: Horizontal Velocity

Figure 15: Moving platform experiment, Horizontal position

41
IFAC ACNAAV 2015
42
June 10-12, 2015. Seville, Spain Francisco Alarcon et al. / IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-9 (2015) 037–042
In the second 60 the landing platform started to move as it is
possible to see in RTK position graph (blue line). Then the
relative controller was able to follow the platform and kept a
horizontal position over the landing point by using the
relative estate estimation (green line). It can be observed that
during the autonomous landing the relative controller was
able to keep the relative position under over the
landing point.
Figure 16 shows the altitude measurements logged in field
and the different phases of the experiment. At the beginning
the helicopter was hovering. When the moving platform
started to move, the helicopter started to follow the moving
platform. Once the UAV was located over the landing
platform, it was commanded to land and it started to descend.
Finally the UAV landed on the moving platform successfully.
Figure 16: Moving platform experiment, Altitude.
Figure 17 shows the relative velocity estimation versus the
RTK measurement of the mobile platform. It can be seen that
when the platform started the movement, the relative velocity
remained around 0. This is because the helicopter followed
the platform aided by the rope.
2 Merino, L. et al., 2011. An Unmanned Aircraft System for
1.5
1
Velocity X(m/s)
0.5
0 TRANSACTIONS ON ROBOTICS, 22(3).
-0.5
-1
0 20 40 60
time(s)
80 100
Figure 17: Moving platform experiment, Horizontal velocity
Several fully autonomous moving platform landings were
performed in an accurate and safe way using the relative
control and estimation approach (a summary of these
experiments are shown in http://youtu.be/77RMk8WEb78).
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
An innovative relative navigation system based on a tether
system has been presented. Experiments have shown that the
relative fusion algorithm is able of providing centimetre
accuracy in absence of GPS and the solution allows the UAV
control system to carry out a safe landing on static and
moving platforms. These results are very promising since
they offer an alternative positioning method to GPS, and also
the capability to land autonomously on a moving platform in
environments where the GPS satellite signals are degraded,
jammed or spoofed.
Future work will study the possibility of implement a tightly
coupled algorithm where all the sensors will be filtered by a
unique algorithm. Also, in the following experiments a
vertical movement and a roll and pitch angular movements
are going to be added to the moving platform. This setup will
simulate the movements of the ship deck and allows us to
have a more realistic environment to validate the GNC
approach for landing in complex moving platform scenarios.
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