Model Predictive Control in UAV Trajectory Planning and Gimbal Control

Abstract

In order to keep a target on the ground in the camera frame of a camera mounted witha pan-tilt gimbal to an unmanned aerial vehicle, three controllers that utilize the modelpredictive control methodology are developed. Through the process of simulating andhardware-in-the-loop testing the controllers, it is shown that one of the controllers canachieve satisfying control of both camera and vehicle. A new controller is proposed forfuture research which is assumed to achieve better control based on the findings of thisthesis.