Micro-Quadrotor Aggressive Maneuvers with Obstacles via Aerodynamic Compensation

In this paper, we consider the problem of steering a micro quadrotor to achieve aggressive maneuvers with obstacles in space. Different from larger quadrotors, micro quadrotors are more likely to be disturbed by the effects of aerodynamics that may significantly mitigate the performance of classical planning and control approaches. To account for the aerodynamic effects, we first model the aerodynamics and identify the model's coefficients using experimental data via linear regression method. Then, this aerodynamic effect is compensated in a geometric flight controller as feedforward terms. Performance of this compensated controller is demonstrated via the example of maneuvering a micro quadrotor to fly through an inclined narrow gap. Aerodynamic model for the micro quadrotor is established using experimental data. Simulation results show the trajectory tracking error is significantly reduced during the aggressive flight.