Free-Space Optical Communication-Driven NMPC Framework for Multi-Rotor Aerial Vehicles in Structured Inspection Scenarios

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel NMPC framework for multi-rotor aerial vehicles that ensures optical communication connectivity during structured inspections, integrating beam alignment, obstacle avoidance, and relay tracking.

Contribution

It introduces a communication-aware NMPC method that incorporates optical link constraints for multi-rotor UAVs in inspection scenarios, supporting various configurations.

Findings

MATLAB simulations confirm the framework's feasibility.

The method effectively maintains optical links during complex maneuvers.

It enables obstacle avoidance while preserving communication quality.

Abstract

This paper introduces a Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) framework for communication-aware motion planning of Multi-Rotor Aerial Vehicles (MRAVs) using Free-Space Optical (FSO) links. The scenario involves MRAVs equipped with body-fixed optical transmitters and Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) acting as mobile relays, each outfitted with fixed conical Field-of-View (FoV) receivers. The controller integrates optical connectivity constraints into the NMPC formulation to ensure beam alignment and minimum link quality, while also enabling UGV tracking and obstacle avoidance. The method supports both coplanar and tilted MRAV configurations. MATLAB simulations demonstrate its feasibility and effectiveness.