Intention-Aware Planner for Robust and Safe Aerial Tracking

TL;DR

This paper introduces an intention-aware planning method for aerial target tracking with quadrotors, improving robustness and safety by predicting target intentions and generating optimal trajectories.

Contribution

It proposes a novel intention prediction method and an intention-driven hybrid A* algorithm for more accurate and safe aerial tracking.

Findings

Enhanced tracking robustness in aggressive target movements

Improved safety through intention-aware trajectory planning

Validated performance with benchmark tests and real-world experiments

Abstract

Autonomous target tracking with quadrotors has wide applications in many scenarios, such as cinematographic follow-up shooting or suspect chasing. Target motion prediction is necessary when designing the tracking planner. However, the widely used constant velocity or constant rotation assumption can not fully capture the dynamics of the target. The tracker may fail when the target happens to move aggressively, such as sudden turn or deceleration. In this paper, we propose an intention-aware planner by additionally considering the intention of the target to enhance safety and robustness in aerial tracking applications. Firstly, a designated intention prediction method is proposed, which combines a user-defined potential assessment function and a state observation function. A reachable region is generated to specifically evaluate the turning intentions. Then we design an intention-driven hybrid A* method to predict the future possible positions for the target. Finally, an intention-aware optimization approach is designed to generate a spatial-temporal optimal trajectory, allowing the tracker to perceive unexpected situations from the target. Benchmark comparisons and real-world experiments are conducted to validate the performance of our method.