Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A Multi-model Framework for Tether-based Drone Localization

  • Short paper
  • Published:
Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper presents a multi-model localization framework for tethered drones. The framework is composed of three independent localization strategies, each one relying in a different model. The first strategy uses simple trigonometric relations assuming that the tether is taut; the second method relies on a set of catenary equations for the case when there is slack on the tether; the third estimator is a neural network-based predictor that can cover different tether shapes. Multi-layer perceptron networks previously trained with a dataset comprised of the tether variables (i.e., length, tether angles on the drone and on the ground) as inputs are used to select which model instantaneously provides the best results. Those networks are also able to identify situations where tether localization is not possible, thus rejecting all estimates. We evaluate our methodology using an in-house built tethering system, which is also described in this paper. Our experimental results have shown that the proposed localization framework consistently selects good solutions from the three estimators and rejects them when the input tether variables suggest bad estimation results.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Code and Data Availability

The dataset used in this study is available from the corresponding author upon a justified request. Codes are not available.

References

  1. Ajwad, S.A., Iqbal, J.: Recent advances and applications of tethered robotic systems. Sci. Int. 26(5), (2014)

  2. Fan, S., Chan, K., Chin, C.K.: Motion analysis of an autonomous underwater vehicle tethered with an optical fiber for real-time surveillance. IEEE J. Ocean. Eng. 46(2), 434–446 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bowen, A., German, C., Jakuba, M., Kinsey, J.C., Mayer, L., Yoerger, D., Whitcomb, L.L.: Lightly tethered unmanned underwater vehicle for under-ice exploration. In: 2012 IEEE Aerospace  Conference, pp. 1–12 (2012). IEEE

  4. Abad-Manterola, P., Nesnas, I.A., Burdick, J.W.: Motion planning on steep terrain for the tethered axel rover. In: 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Shanghai, China, pp. 4188–4195 (2011). IEEE

  5. Tanner, M.M., Burdick, J.W., Nesnas, I.A.: Online motion planning for tethered robots in extreme terrain. In: 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Karlsruhe, Germany, pp. 5557–5564 (2013). IEEE

  6. Rocamora, B.M., Lima, R.R., Samarakoon, K., Rathjen, J., Gross, J.N., Pereira, G.A.: Oxpecker: A tethered uav for inspection of stone-mine pillars. Drones 7(2), 73 (2023)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Gu, B.W., Choi, S.Y., Choi, Y.S., Cai, G., Seneviratne, L., Rim, C.T.: Novel roaming and stationary tethered aerial robots for continuous mobile missions in nuclear power plants. Nuclear Engineering and Technology 48(4), 982–996 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2016.02.014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Boukoberine, M.N., Zhou, Z., Benbouzid, M.: Power supply architectures for drones - a review. In: IECON 2019 - 45th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, vol. 1. Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 5826–5831 (2019)

  9. Kiribayashi, S., Ashizawa, J., Nagatani, K.: Modeling and design of tether powered multicopter. In: 2015 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR), pp. 1–7 (2015). IEEE

  10. Walendziuk, W., Oldziej, D., Slowik, M.: Power supply system analysis for tethered drones application. In: 2020 International Conference Mechatronic Systems and Materials (MSM), pp. 1–6 (2020). IEEE

  11. Selim, M.Y., Kamal, A.E.: Post-disaster 4g/5g network rehabilitation using drones: Solving battery and backhaul issues. In: 2018 IEEE Globecom Workshops (GC Wkshps), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, pp. 1–6 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1109/GLOCOMW.2018.8644135

  12. Li, Y.-b., Wang, X.: Ground station software design of tethered airship monitoring system. In: 2011 International Symposium on Computer Science and Society, pp. 332–335 (2011). IEEE

  13. Chandrasekharan, S., Gomez, K., Al-Hourani, A., Kandeepan, S., Rasheed, T., Goratti, L., Reynaud, L., Grace, D., Bucaille, I., Wirth, T., et al.: Designing and implementing future aerial communication networks. IEEE Communications Magazine 54(5), 26–34 (2016)

  14. Sandino, L.A., Bejar, M., Kondak, K., Ollero, A.: Advances in modeling and control of tethered unmanned helicopters to enhance hovering performance. Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems 73(1), 3–18 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-013-9910-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Nicotra, M.M., Naldi, R., Garone, E.: Taut cable control of a tethered UAV. IFAC Proceedings Volumes 47(3), 3190–3195 (2014). https://doi.org/10.3182/20140824-6-ZA-1003.02581. 19th IFAC World Congress

  16. Alarcón, F., Santamaría, D., Viguria, A., Ollero, A., Heredia, G.: Helicopter GNC system for autonomous landing by using a tether in a GPS denied scenario. In: 2015 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), Denver, CO, USA, pp. 1067–1073 (2015)

  17. So-Ryeok, Oh., Pathak, K., Agrawal, S.K., Pota, H.R., Garratt, M.: Approaches for a tether-guided landing of an autonomous helicopter. IEEE Transactions on Robotics 22(3), 536–544 (2006)

  18. Mfiri, J.T., Treurnicht, J., Engelbrecht, J.A.A.: Automated landing of a tethered quad-rotor UAV with constant winching force. In: 2016 Pattern Recognition Association of South Africa and Robotics and Mechatronics International Conference (PRASA-RobMech), Stellenbosch, South Africa, pp. 1–6 (2016)

  19. Alarcón, F., García, M., Maza, I., Viguria, A., Ollero, A.: A precise and GNSS-free landing system on moving platforms for rotary-wing UAVs. Sensors 19(4), 886 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3390/s19040886

  20. Lupashin, S., D’Andrea, R.: Stabilization of a flying vehicle on a taut tether using inertial sensing. In: 2013 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Tokyo, Japan, pp. 2432–2438 (2013). IEEE

  21. Al-Radaideh, A., Sun, L.: Self-localization of a tethered quadcopter using inertial sensors in a GPS-denied environment. In: 2017 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), Miami, FL, USA, pp. 271–277 (2017). IEEE

  22. Al-Radaideh, A., Sun, L.: Observability analysis and bayesian filtering for self-localization of a tethered multicopter in GPS-denied environments. In: 2019 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), Atlanta, GA, USA, pp. 1041–1047 (2019). IEEE

  23. Kiribayashi, S., Yakushigawa, K., Nagatani, K.: Position estimation of tethered micro unmanned aerial vehicle by observing the slack tether. In: 2017 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security and Rescue Robotics (SSRR), Shanghai, China, pp. 159–165 (2017)

  24. Talke, K.A., De Oliveira, M., Bewley, T.: Catenary tether shape analysis for a UAV - USV team. In: 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Madrid, Spain, pp. 7803–7809 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS.2018.8594280

  25. Lima, R.R., Pereira, G.A.: On the development of a tether-based drone localization system. In: 2021 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), Athens, Greece, pp. 195–201 (2021). IEEE

  26. Sandino, L.A., Santamaria, D., Bejar, M., Viguria, A., Kondak, K., Ollero, A.: Tether-guided landing of unmanned helicopters without GPS sensors. In: 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Hong Kong, China, pp. 3096–3101 (2014)

  27. Al-Radaideh, A., Sun, L.: Self-localization of tethered drones without a cable force sensor in GPS-denied environments. Drones 5(4), 135 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Xiao, X., Fan, Y., Dufek, J., Murphy, R.: Indoor UAV localization using a tether. In: 2018 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR), Philadelphia, PA, USA, pp. 1–6 (2018)

  29. Christopher Frey, H., Patil, S.R.: Identification and review of sensitivity analysis methods. Risk analysis 22(3), 553–578 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Quigley, M., Gerkey, B., Conley, K., Faust, J., Foote, T., Leibs, J., Berger, E., Wheeler, R., Ng, A.: ROS: an open-source robot operating system. In: Proc. of the IEEE Intl. Conf. on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) Workshop on Open Source Robotics, Kobe, Japan (2009)

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was sponsored by Alpha Foundation for the Improvement of Mine Safety and Health, Inc. (ALPHA FOUNDATION). The views, opinions and recommendations expressed herein are solely those of the authors and do not imply any endorsement by the ALPHA FOUNDATION, its Directors and staff.

Funding

This work was supported by the Alpha Foundation for the Improvement of Mine Safety and Health, Inc. (ALPHA FOUNDATION).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Rogerio R. Lima & Guilherme A. S. Pereira

Authors
  1. Rogerio R. Lima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Guilherme A. S. Pereira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Both authors contributed to the study, especially in the conceptualization and methodology. Rogerio Lima conducted the technical work by designing, assembling, and integrating the hardware. He also programmed the embedded systems and the scripts for data processing. Guilherme Pereira was responsible for funding acquisition, project administration, and work supervision. Both authors worked together on the experiments presented in the manuscript. Both authors also read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rogerio R. Lima.

Ethics declarations

Competing Interests

The authors declare no financial or conflict of interest.

Ethics approval

Not applicable.

Consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent to publish

Not applicable.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lima, R.R., Pereira, G.A.S. A Multi-model Framework for Tether-based Drone Localization. J Intell Robot Syst 108, 20 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-023-01851-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-023-01851-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation