Tether-Inertial Localization for Planetary Drones
2026-08-10 • Robotics
Robotics
AI summaryⓘ
The authors developed a new way to figure out the exact position of drones connected by a cable to a base rover. They use measurements of the cable's length and angle, combined with a math model of the cable shape and a machine learning method to correct errors. Tests showed their method is very accurate, better than previous ones, without needing cameras or GPS. This approach helps drones fly longer and do more work by relying on the tether for power and positioning.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)Tethered UAVLocalizationCatenary modelGaussian ProcessPosition estimationInertial sensorsPayload constraintsBattery limitationsPlanetary exploration
Authors
Dielof van Loon, Anton Bredenbeck, Lennart Puck, Martin Azkarate, Salua Hamaza
Abstract
Recent developments in planetary exploration have shown the potential of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), such as the Ingenuity helicopter that provided valuable mapping data. However, limited payload capabilities constrain the flight times and compute available for localization, which restrict their applicability. By providing a tethered connection, issues such as battery and computational constraints are offloaded to the base rover. At the same time, the cable can be exploited for non-drifting localization. This work presents a novel Tether-Inertial Localization approach that uses tether length and angle measurements to estimate the UAV position relative to its base. The method combines a computationally efficient analytical catenary model with a Gaussian Process (GP) residual error compensation. This accounts for systematic sensor inaccuracies and model limitations. Experimental validation across circular, triangular, and figure-eight trajectories with tether lengths up to 4.5 m and a total flight time of 37 minutes demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Using only tether-based position estimates for feedback, the analytical catenary model achieves an average RMSE of 7.4 cm, which is further reduced to 5.2 cm through GP-based residual compensation, one order of magnitude better than the state-of-the-art. These results establish Tether-Inertial Localization as a practical alternative to vision- and GNSS-based localization for Tethered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (TUAVs).