A low-cost autonomous navigation system for a quadrotor in complex outdoor environments. (7th February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Hanzhang; Liu, Yisha
• Is Part Of: International journal of advanced robotic systems. Volume 17:Number 1(2020:Jan./Feb.)
• Publication Date: 2020-02-07
• Subjects: Path planning -- RRT*-CONNECT -- cluttered outdoor environments -- quadrotors -- 5G; Robotics -- Periodicals; Robotics; Periodicals; 629.892
• DOI: 10.1177/1729881420905150
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1729-8806

Abstract

In this article, we design a low-cost navigation system for a quadrotor working in unknown outdoor environments. To reduce the computing burden of the quadrotor, we build a separated system and transfer the computing resources from onboard side to ground station side. Both sides' communication is guaranteed by 5G wireless networks. We utilize a stereo camera to acquire point clouds and build Octomap for the quadrotor's navigation. Then, the trajectory is generated in two stages. In the first stage, a modified RRT*-CONNECT algorithm is adopted to generate a set of collision-free waypoints. In the second stage, a curve fitting algorithm is utilized to get a smooth piecewise Bezier trajectory. The advantage of the proposed method is to optimize the path into a safe, smooth, and dynamically feasible trajectory in real time. The modules of the state estimation, dense mapping, and motion planning are integrated into a DJI Matrice 100 quadrotor. Finally, simulation and experiments are both conducted to show the validity and practicality of our method.