Precision Landing for Fixed-wing UAV using Ultra-Wide-Band Ranging

Gautier Hattenberger (1)

1 ENAC - Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile

Fixed-wing mini UAVs usually require a large area in order to safely land, eventually directly using the fuselage body as a landing skid. In some cases, the ground surface is not suitable for this type of operation and may damage the aircraft. A common option is to use a net to capture the plane, but the GPS accuracy may not be sufficient to allow a reliable landing in full autonomy. In this paper, we are investigating the use of Ultra-Wide-Band communication modules, used as ranging systems, in order to determine the position of the UAV during its final approach. This information is then used to adjust the trajectory towards the landing net. The focus is made to the calibration procedure, the data fusion Kalman filter to estimate the position of the UAV and the overall performances of the system.

Domaines: Automatique / Robotique

Gautier Hattenberger. Precision Landing for Fixed-wing UAV using Ultra-Wide-Band Ranging. IMAV 2018, International Micro Air Vehicles, Conferences and Competitions, Nov 2018, Melbourne, Australia. ⟨hal-01936955⟩