Quadrotor control improves intercepting unauthorized drones while keeping target visible
ISB-NMPC: Interception-Oriented Spherical-Bearing Nonlinear Model Predictive Control for Quadrotors
Robotics
Summary
Stopping unauthorized drones by physically intercepting them is tricky because the drone needs to close in quickly but also keep the target in sight. The authors developed a control method called ISB-NMPC that helps a drone predict where a target will be and move so it both catches up and keeps the target visible through its camera. In tests, this method succeeded in intercepting targets most of the time while almost always keeping them in view. They also showed it works well outdoors, reaching fast speeds and accurately tracking objects from far away.
What this means in practice
- •For drone security teams: Use ISB-NMPC to guide interceptor drones that physically stop unauthorized UAVs while maintaining visual tracking of the target.
- •For autonomous vehicle developers: Incorporate spherical-bearing prediction with nonlinear control to improve pursuit and visual tracking of moving targets by small aerial vehicles.
Authors
Li Hong, Linkai Liu, Xiangyu Ren, Shuli Lv, Chen Min, Chunjiang Wu, Yujun Zhang, Dingchen Zeng, Quan Quan
Abstract
Quadrotor interceptors equipped with strapdown cameras offer a low-cost solution for physically countering unauthorized UAVs. However, this configuration inherently couples vehicle maneuvering and camera pointing, creating a conflict between rapid closing and maintaining target visibility. We present interception-oriented spherical-bearing nonlinear model predictive control (ISB-NMPC), which couples spherical-bearing prediction with nonlinear quadrotor dynamics to jointly optimize target-directed closing motion and visibility. An attitude-compensated extended Kalman filter on S^2 estimates target bearing motion, compensates for perception delay, and predicts target bearings to guide scale-adaptive detection. Across 30 paired simulation trials, ISB-NMPC achieves an interception success rate of 86.7%, the highest among the evaluated controllers, with a mean per-trial target-visible time of 99.11%. Outdoor flights demonstrate acquisition of a 30 cm target at approximately 150 m, with interceptor speed reaching 17 m/s in the long-range flight and approximately 14 m/s while pursuing a quadrotor-towed maneuvering target. The software and hardware are open source at https://github.com/HOLYNOTBAD/ISB-NMPC and https://github.com/HOLYNOTBAD/holydrone, respectively.