Automatic UAV Landing with Ground Target Maintained in the Field of View

In this paper, a key capability for UAV visual servoing in automatic landing is investigated: the possibility to add an output constraint to a given control law, namely that a ground target point be maintained inside the camera field of view (FoV). This method has been recently developed, and the present study represents an application of this method, which can be applied to any nonlinear system. First, a control law for UAV automatic landing is proposed. Then, the output constraint method is presented. Later, the method is applied to the UAV landing case. Finally, simulation results are presented, which show the relevance of the method. The approach thus solves a key element of any visual servoing problem: the possibility to maintain a given object inside the camera field of view.