Abstract
Currently, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) utilizes global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) in conjunction with other modalities for localization purposes. Nevertheless, this approach faces robustness issues when GNSS signals become unavailable or sensors malfunction. Clearly, the robustness of the system increases considerably when multiple UAV agents are employed to perform collaborative positioning. In this work, an online distributed solution is proposed for relative localization, which incorporates multiple UAVs together with Signals of Opportunity (SOPs) as well as inertial, visual, and optical flow measurements. The proposed localization system includes relative self-localization of each UAV agent, as well as a reliable distributed relative positioning system (DRPS) for each UAV based on the relative positions from other UAV agents in its vicinity. The latter positioning strategy is required in case the relative self-localization fails, mainly due to such problems as inertial measurement unit (IMU) accumulated error drift, camera sensor errors, or SOP shortfalls due to multipath or antenna obstruction. Extensive field experiments validate the proposed technique and demonstrate increased localization accuracy and robustness when compared to the benchmark approach that does not include cooperation between UAVs.
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This work has been supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research grant agreement 739551 (KIOS CoE - TEAMING) and from the Republic of Cyprus through the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy
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Open access funding provided by the Cyprus Libraries Consortium (CLC). This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreements No 101017258 (SESAME) and No 739551 (KIOS CoE - TEAMING) and from the Republic of Cyprus through the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy.
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All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design in an equal manner. Material preparation, analysis, and implementation were performed by Nicolas Souli.
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Souli, N., Kolios, P. & Ellinas, G. Online Distributed Relative Positioning Utilizing Multiple Cooperative Autonomous Agents. J Intell Robot Syst 109, 87 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-023-01992-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-023-01992-2