Vector directed path generation and tracking for autonomous unmanned aerial/ ground vehicles

Autonomous robots such are unmanned aerial and unmanned ground vehicles are increasingly utilized in patrolling, surveillance, search and rescue and in missions that are hazardous for humans. Path-planning, path-generation and following a planned path successfully are fundamental requirements for autonomous operation of unmanned robots. Though the operational principle of aerial and ground robots are different, the algorithms for path-planning and path-following can be generalized. Vector Directed Path Generation and Tracking (VDPGT) proposed in this work is a platform independent path-generation and path-following algorithm. VDPGT is designed to dynamically adapt the shortest path to a destination. Simulation studies carried out on two ground robots (Turtlebot and Clearpath Husky), two aerial robots (AR Drone and Hector-quadrotor) and realtime experiments on Turtlebot and AR Drone demonstrate the platform independent nature of VDPGT.

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