A semi-global model-based state estimator for the quadrotor using only inertial measurements

TL;DR

This paper introduces a nonlinear observer for quadrotor state estimation using inertial measurements, offering a computationally efficient alternative to EKF with guaranteed convergence over a large domain.

Contribution

It presents a semi-global, model-based nonlinear observer that improves upon EKF methods in terms of computational efficiency, tuning simplicity, and convergence guarantees.

Findings

Lower computational cost than EKF

Easier tuning process

Large guaranteed domain of convergence

Abstract

We propose a nonlinear observer to estimate the state (orientation and in-plane velocity vector) of the quadrotor, based on a drag-force-enhanced model. It is an alternative to recent works using a similar model together with an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). But while enjoying the benefits of an enhanced model, it does not have the usual drawbacks of an EKF: indeed, the computational cost is much lower, the tuning is easier, and above all the guaranteed domain of convergence is very large.