Vision-based autonomous hovering for a miniature quad-rotor

SUMMARY In this paper, a vision-based scheme for the autonomous hovering of a miniature quad-rotor is developed. Cameras are used to estimate the position and the translational velocity of the vehicle. The dynamic model of the miniature quad-rotor is developed using the Newton–Euler approach. A nonlinear controller based on a separated saturation control strategy for a miniature quad-rotor is presented. To validate the theoretical results, an embedded control system for the miniature quad-rotor has been developed. Thus, the analytic results are supported by experimental tests. Experimental results have validated the proposed control strategy.