Image based visual servo control for a class of aerial robotic systems

An image-based strategy for visual servo control of a class of dynamic systems is proposed. The class of systems considered includes dynamic models of unmanned aerial vehicles capable of quasi-stationary flight (hover and near hover flight). The control strategy exploits passivity-like properties of the dynamic model to derive a Lyapunov control algorithm using backstepping techniques. The paper extends earlier work (Hamel, T., & Mahony, R. (2002). Visual servoing of an under-actuated dynamic rigid-body system: An image based approach. IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 18(2), 187-198) where partial pose information was used in the construction of the visual error. In this paper the visual error is defined purely in terms of the image features derived from the camera input. Local exponential stability of the system is proved. An estimate of the basin of attraction for the closed-loop system is provided.