Autopilot design for A class of miniature autonomous blimps

Abstract

The Georgia Tech Miniature Autonomous Blimp (GT-MAB) is developed as an indoor testbed for robotics research. Compared with existing platforms, the GT-MAB features longer flight times and safer human-robot interactions. The influence of aerodynamics on the blimp is significant and must be considered to achieve autonomous flying behaviors. This paper presents the mathematical modeling, system identification, and controller design for the GT-MAB, which leads to a set of motion primitives that can be combined for autonomous waypoint-following. Especially, an altitude controller incorporating a scheduling algorithm is proposed to address uncertainties of propeller efficiency. Experiments have demonstrated that the GT-MAB is able to perform 3D sampling and mapping of a light intensity field in an indoor environment.