Precise Landing of Autonomous Aerial Vehicles Using Vector Fields
Vinícius Mariano Gonçalves, Ryan McLaughlin, Guilherme A. S. Pereira
Abstract
This letter proposes a strategy for autonomous precision landing of aerial vehicles in fixed pads or runways. Our approach is based on a velocity vector field, which is a closed-loop strategy that guides the vehicle towards the landing point and simultaneously enforces the shape of its trajectory. Relative position between the vehicle and the landing zone, which can be easily determined using visual sensors installed on-board, is the only information necessary to perform the landing. We present vector fields that can be used to land both fixed- and rotary-wing autonomous aircrafts. We also show experiments and simulations with a quadrotor equipped with a monocular camera to illustrate the characteristics of the proposed approach.