Results & Performance

Validation and performance metrics of the VFF-Nav system

Optimal Parameters

After extensive calibration simulation, the following parameters yielded the best performance:

VFF Guidance Parameters

Parameter Optimal Value Description
\(Q_{goal}\) -278.21 Goal charge strength
\(F_{goal, const}\) 253.05 Constant attraction to goal
\(F_{\text{sat}}\) 427.02 Obstacle saturation threshold
\(F_{\text{fac,squash}}\) 235.98 Post-squashing force factor
\(Q_{\text{vertical,obs}}\) 6.56 Vertical obstacle charge modifier

Velocity PID Parameters

Parameter Optimal Value Description
\(K_x, K_y, K_z\) 0.073, 0.391, 0.583 Velocity P gains (x, y, z)
\(K_{i,x}, K_{i,y}, K_{i,z}\) 0.00022, 0.091, 0.066 Velocity I gains (x, y, z)
\(K_{d,x}, K_{d,y}, K_{d,z}\) 0.043, 0.024, 0.0089 Velocity D gains (x, y, z)

Attitude Controller Parameters

Parameter Optimal Value Description
MC_ROLL_P 5.41 Roll attitude gain
MC_PITCH_P 8.00 Pitch attitude gain
MC_YAW_P 3.87 Yaw attitude gain

Rate Controller Parameters

Parameter Optimal Value Description
MC_ROLLRATE_P 1.00 Roll rate P gain
MC_ROLLRATE_I 0.081 Roll rate I gain
MC_ROLLRATE_D 0.0013 Roll rate D gain
MC_ROLLRATE_FF 1.48 Roll rate feedforward
MC_ROLLRATE_K 0.504 Roll rate global gain
MC_PITCHRATE_P 1.00 Pitch rate P gain
MC_PITCHRATE_I 0.055 Pitch rate I gain
MC_PITCHRATE_D 0.0034 Pitch rate D gain
MC_PITCHRATE_FF 1.30 Pitch rate feedforward
MC_PITCHRATE_K 0.50 Pitch rate global gain
MC_YAWRATE_P 1.00 Yaw rate P gain
MC_YAWRATE_I 0.070 Yaw rate I gain
MC_YAWRATE_D 0.0024 Yaw rate D gain
MC_YAWRATE_FF 1.21 Yaw rate feedforward
MC_YAWRATE_K 0.516 Yaw rate global gain

Demonstration Videos

C++ Simulation

Drone navigating in a simulated C++ world.

ROS/Gazebo Simulation

PX4 navigation in Gazebo world

Future Work

Based on our results, we plan to focus on: