Collision Avoidance for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the Presence of Static and Moving Obstacles

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel collision avoidance method for UAVs using local parametrized vector fields that enable smooth, intuitive maneuvers around static and moving obstacles, validated through numerical simulations.

Contribution

It proposes a new collision avoidance vector field approach that blends multiple obstacle avoidance fields and integrates with existing tracking controllers for UAVs.

Findings

Effective avoidance of static and moving obstacles demonstrated in simulations.

Smooth and intuitive UAV maneuvers achieved using the proposed vector fields.

Compatibility with various tracking controllers verified.

Abstract

This paper presents a new collision avoidance procedure for unmanned aerial vehicles in the presence of static and moving obstacles. The proposed procedure is based on a new form of local parametrized guidance vector fields, called collision avoidance vector fields, that produce smooth and intuitive maneuvers around obstacles. The maneuvers follow nominal collision-free paths which we refer to as streamlines of the collision avoidance vector fields. In the case of multiple obstacles, the proposed procedure determines a mixed vector field that blends the collision avoidance vector field of each obstacle and assumes its form whenever a pre-defined distance threshold is reached. Then, in accordance to the computed guidance vector fields, different collision avoidance controllers that generate collision-free maneuvers are developed. Furthermore, it is shown that any tracking controller with convergence guarantees can be used with the avoidance controllers to track the streamlines of the collision avoidance vector fields. Finally, numerical simulations demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach and its ability to avoid collisions with static and moving pop-up threats in three different practical scenarios.