NMPC-Lander: Nonlinear MPC with Barrier Function for UAV Landing on a Mobile Platform

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Batool, Amber, Batool, Faryal, Khan, Roohan Ahmed, Mustafa, Muhammad Ahsan, Fedoseev, Aleksey, Tsetserukou, Dzmitry
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Batool, Amber
Batool, Faryal
Khan, Roohan Ahmed
Mustafa, Muhammad Ahsan
Fedoseev, Aleksey
Tsetserukou, Dzmitry
author_facet Batool, Amber
Batool, Faryal
Khan, Roohan Ahmed
Mustafa, Muhammad Ahsan
Fedoseev, Aleksey
Tsetserukou, Dzmitry
contents Quadcopters are versatile aerial robots gaining popularity in numerous critical applications. However, their operational effectiveness is constrained by limited battery life and restricted flight range. To address these challenges, autonomous drone landing on stationary or mobile charging and battery-swapping stations has become an essential capability. In this study, we present NMPC-Lander, a novel control architecture that integrates Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) with Control Barrier Functions (CBF) to achieve precise and safe autonomous landing on both static and dynamic platforms. Our approach employs NMPC for accurate trajectory tracking and landing, while simultaneously incorporating CBF to ensure collision avoidance with static obstacles. Experimental evaluations on the real hardware demonstrate high precision in landing scenarios, with an average final position error of 9.0 cm and 11 cm for stationary and mobile platforms, respectively. Notably, NMPC-Lander outperforms the B-spline combined with the A* planning method by nearly threefold in terms of position tracking, underscoring its superior robustness and practical effectiveness.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_03931
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle NMPC-Lander: Nonlinear MPC with Barrier Function for UAV Landing on a Mobile Platform
Batool, Amber
Batool, Faryal
Khan, Roohan Ahmed
Mustafa, Muhammad Ahsan
Fedoseev, Aleksey
Tsetserukou, Dzmitry
Robotics
Quadcopters are versatile aerial robots gaining popularity in numerous critical applications. However, their operational effectiveness is constrained by limited battery life and restricted flight range. To address these challenges, autonomous drone landing on stationary or mobile charging and battery-swapping stations has become an essential capability. In this study, we present NMPC-Lander, a novel control architecture that integrates Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) with Control Barrier Functions (CBF) to achieve precise and safe autonomous landing on both static and dynamic platforms. Our approach employs NMPC for accurate trajectory tracking and landing, while simultaneously incorporating CBF to ensure collision avoidance with static obstacles. Experimental evaluations on the real hardware demonstrate high precision in landing scenarios, with an average final position error of 9.0 cm and 11 cm for stationary and mobile platforms, respectively. Notably, NMPC-Lander outperforms the B-spline combined with the A* planning method by nearly threefold in terms of position tracking, underscoring its superior robustness and practical effectiveness.
title NMPC-Lander: Nonlinear MPC with Barrier Function for UAV Landing on a Mobile Platform
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.03931