Reconfigurable Control Architecture for Distributed Systems in the HERO Autonomous Helicopter

• Published in: IEEE transactions on industrial electronics (1982) Vol. 58; no. 12; pp. 5311 - 5318
• Main Authors: Ferruz, J., Vega, V. M., Ollero, A., Blanco, V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.12.2011; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Aerial robotics; Aerospace control; Architecture; Autonomous; Computer networks; Control systems; digital signal processor (DSP); Distributed control; embedded system; Focusing; Helicopters; Onboard; Runtime environment; Software architecture; Software design; Three dimensional; unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); Unmanned aerial vehicles
• ISSN: 0278-0046; 1557-9948
• DOI: 10.1109/TIE.2010.2046003

This paper presents the architecture of an onboard controller developed for the HERO autonomous helicopter, which is a low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle research platform. An embedded digital-signal-processor-based low-level controller is devoted to flight control, while a PC-based high-level controller is used for onboard perception tasks and interaction with other agents in a distributed system. The functional design, software architecture, and implementation of the low-level controller are analyzed in detail, focusing mainly on its runtime environment (JULIET) and its capability for flexible reconfiguration. The connectivity functions of the low-level controller with external possibly distributed agents are also addressed. Finally, the results of real autonomous flight experiments are presented, including the tracking of a smooth 3-D path described by over two hundred waypoints.