Uncertainty-Aware 3D UAV Tracking Using Single-Anchor UWB Measurements

TL;DR

This paper introduces an uncertainty-aware 3D UAV tracking system using single-anchor UWB measurements, combining robust localization and adaptive control to improve stability and safety in uncertain environments.

Contribution

It presents a novel joint localization and control framework that adaptively manages measurement uncertainty for UAV target tracking.

Findings

System achieves stable 3D tracking in indoor environments.

Adaptive control improves safety margins under measurement degradation.

Validated through simulations and real-world experiments.

Abstract

In this letter, we present an uncertainty-aware single-anchor Ultra-Wideband (UWB)-based 3D tracking framework. Specifically, a mobile Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) maintains a desired standoff distance to a moving target using range and 3D bearing measurements from a multi-antenna UWB anchor rigidly mounted on the UAV. To enhance the stability and safety under measurement degradation and motion uncertainty, we jointly design a robust factor-graph-based target localization method and a covariance-aware control Lyapunov function--control barrier function (CLF--CBF) tracking controller. This controller adaptively adjusts distance bounds and safety margins based on the posterior target covariance provided by the factor graph. The proposed system is evaluated through numerical simulations and real-world experiments carried out in a narrow indoor corridor environment.