Vector directed path generation and tracking for autonomous unmanned aerial/ ground vehicles

Abstract

Autonomous robots such are unmanned aerial and unmanned ground vehicles are increasingly utilized in patrolling, surveillance, search and rescue and in missions that are hazardous for humans. Path-planning, path-generation and following a planned path successfully are fundamental requirements for autonomous operation of unmanned robots. Though the operational principle of aerial and ground robots are different, the algorithms for path-planning and path-following can be generalized. Vector Directed Path Generation and Tracking (VDPGT) proposed in this work is a platform independent path-generation and path-following algorithm. VDPGT is designed to dynamically adapt the shortest path to a destination. Simulation studies carried out on two ground robots (Turtlebot and Clearpath Husky), two aerial robots (AR Drone and Hector-quadrotor) and realtime experiments on Turtlebot and AR Drone demonstrate the platform independent nature of VDPGT.