MINES ParisTech CAS - Centre automatique et systèmes

SPATIAL PLANNING AND CONTROL OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES: BRIDGING ALGORITHMS AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR

23 juin 2008, Salle L106, à l'Ecole des Mines, Paris.
14h00 : Bernard METTLER, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.
Small-scale aerial vehicles like miniature helicopters make for highly capable and versatile robotic platforms. Due to their small size, light weight, and broad dynamic capabilities they are well suited for operations in urban and other intricate 3D environments. Automatic control of unmanned aircraft is still very limited compared to what a human pilot can achieve. Deploying such vehicles autonomously in real-world settings is mired by numerous challenges such as partial knowledge, disturbances and sometimes even adversarial elements. Spatial planning and control represents the most central capability required for performing any type of tasks.
In my presentation I will first discuss the trajectory planning problem and describe an approach based on receding horizon optimization. Second, I will describe the application of the optimal control framework to the study of human spatial control and planning. I will conclude my presentation with a brief overview of some preliminary research on aerial tele-operation and studies of human spatial cognition.