Systems and methods for adaptive attitude control for foldable quadrotors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12560947-B2
Application number	US-202418745804-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 17, 2024
Priority date	Jun 15, 2023
Publication date	Feb 24, 2026
Grant date	Feb 24, 2026

Abstract

A vehicle control framework enables improved attitude tracking and mode switching of a vehicle by modeling the vehicle as a switched system, where the vehicle is operable for changing a geometric configuration during flight. The vehicle control framework implements a control law that accommodates modeling uncertainties and unknown external disturbances. The vehicle also enforces a switching time constrained by a minimum dwell time which can be adaptively updated based on attitude errors.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system, comprising:
a vehicle including a processor in communication with a memory and a sensor, the memory including instructions executable by the processor to:
access a reference trajectory including a reference attitude for a vehicle, the vehicle being operable for switching between a plurality of geometric configurations at a switching time;
determine, based on a set of attitude information obtained from the sensor, an attitude tracking error with respect to the reference attitude;
determine a minimum dwell time that restricts the switching time to accommodate modeling uncertainties associated with switching between geometric configurations, the minimum dwell time incorporating a ratio of the attitude tracking error; and
update, based on the attitude tracking error, the reference trajectory to reflect an adapted reference trajectory including an adapted reference attitude based on: the minimum dwell time, a settling time associated with attitude tracking stabilization for the vehicle under a geometric configuration of the plurality of geometric configurations, and the reference trajectory.

2 . The system of claim 1 , the minimum dwell time incorporating a ratio between a minimum eigenvalue of a first matrix and a maximum eigenvalue of a second matrix, the first matrix and the second matrix being associated with pre-determined values including an augmenting constant, a set of tuning parameters, an estimated minimum eigenvalue of an inertia matrix for the geometric configuration of the vehicle, and an estimated maximum eigenvalue of the inertia matrix for the geometric configuration of the vehicle.

3 . The system of claim 1 , the memory further including instructions executable by the processor to:
generate, based on the adapted reference trajectory, a mode switching signal to transition the vehicle between a first geometric configuration and a second geometric configuration at the switching time, the switching time being selected based on: the minimum dwell time, the settling time, a position of the vehicle in view of the adapted reference trajectory, and a velocity of the vehicle in view of the adapted reference trajectory.

4 . The system of claim 1 , the adapted reference trajectory being generated based on a set of trajectory boundary conditions that incorporate:
a target position of an entrance of a passageway where the vehicle is expected to reach over a time interval that is greater than the settling time and the minimum dwell time; and a target velocity for the vehicle to travel through the passageway over the time interval that is greater than the settling time and the minimum dwell time.

5 . The system of claim 1 , the memory further including instructions executable by the processor to:
determine a control torque value based on the attitude tracking error, the control torque value incorporating a robust control term that accommodates unknown external disturbances that affect attitude control of the vehicle, the robust control term incorporating an augmented tracking error which incorporates the attitude tracking error and an augmenting constant associated with the geometric configuration, the augmenting constant being selected to ensure that attitude tracking error for each configuration of the vehicle converge to zero; and generate an actuation signal for application to one or more actuation elements of the vehicle based on the control torque value.

6 . The system of claim 5 , the augmenting constant having a value that is less than a minimum of a set of pre-determined constants based on the geometric configuration of the vehicle, which can be determined using a set of tuning parameters for the geometric configuration of the vehicle, an estimated minimum eigenvalue of an inertia matrix for the geometric configuration of the vehicle, and an estimated maximum eigenvalue of the inertia matrix for the geometric configuration of the vehicle.

7 . The system of claim 5 , the robust control term incorporating a small positive constant which is adaptively chosen to be less than a scalar value which incorporates the attitude tracking error and a third matrix associated with the geometric configuration;
the third matrix incorporating: the augmenting constant, a set of tuning parameters for the geometric configuration of the vehicle, and an estimated maximum eigenvalue of an inertia matrix for the geometric configuration of the vehicle.

8 . The system of claim 5 , the robust control term incorporating an estimated upper bound on external disturbances with respect to attitude dynamics for the vehicle.

9 . A system, comprising:
a vehicle including a processor in communication with a memory and a sensor, the memory including instructions executable by the processor to:
access a reference trajectory including a reference attitude for a vehicle, the vehicle being operable for switching between a plurality of geometric configurations at a switching time;
determine, based on a set of attitude information obtained from the sensor, an attitude tracking error with respect to the reference attitude; and
determine a control torque value based on the attitude tracking error, the control torque value incorporating a robust control term that accommodates unknown external disturbances that affect attitude control of the vehicle, the robust control term incorporating an augmented tracking error which incorporates the attitude tracking error and an augmenting constant associated with a geometric configuration of the plurality of geometric configurations, the augmenting constant being selected to ensure that attitude tracking error for the geometric configuration of the vehicle converges to zero.

10 . The system of claim 9 , the memory further including instructions executable by the processor to:
generate an actuation signal for application to one or more actuation elements of the vehicle based on the control torque value by providing the control torque value as input to a control allocation matrix associated with the geometric configuration that maps the control torque value to the actuation signal.

11 . The system of claim 9 , the augmenting constant having a value that is less than a minimum of a set of pre-determined constants based on the geometric configuration of the vehicle, which can be determined using a set of tuning parameters for the geometric configuration of the vehicle, an estimated minimum eigenvalue of an inertia matrix for the geometric configuration of the vehicle, and an estimated maximum eigenvalue of the inertia matrix for the geometric configuration of the vehicle.

12 . The system of claim 11 , the set of tuning parameters being approximated through a simulation process.

13 . The system of claim 11 , the estimated minimum eigenvalue of the inertia matrix for the geometric configuration of the vehicle being approximated through a simulation process, and the estimated maximum eigenvalue of the inertia matrix for the geometric configuration of the vehicle being approximated through a simulation process.

14 . The system of claim 9 , the robust control term incorporating a small positive constant which is adaptively chosen to be less than a scalar value which incorporates the attitude tracking error and a third matrix associated with the geometric configuration;
the third matrix incorporating: the augmenting constant, a set of tuning parameters for the geometric configuration of the vehicle, and an estimated maximum eigenvalue of an inertia matrix for the geometric configuration of the vehicle.

15 . The system of claim 9 , the robust control ter

Assignees

• Zhang Wenlong
• Patnaik Karishma
• Univ Arizona State

Inventors

• Zhang Wenlong
• Patnaik Karishma

Classifications

• G05D1/646

  Following a predefined trajectory, e.g. a line marked on the floor or a flight path · CPC title

• G05D2109/25

  Rotorcrafts · CPC title

• G05D1/644

  Optimisation of travel parameters, e.g. of energy consumption, journey time or distance · CPC title

• G05D2107/50

  Confined spaces, e.g. tanks, pipelines, tunnels or containers · CPC title

• G05D2109/254

  Flying platforms, e.g. multicopters · CPC title