Embedded Safe Reactive Navigation for Multirotors Systems using Control Barrier Functions

Abstract

Aiming to promote the wide adoption of safety filters for autonomous aerial robots, this paper presents a safe control architecture designed for seamless integration into widely used open-source autopilots. Departing from methods that require consistent localization and mapping, we formalize the obstacle avoidance problem as a composite control barrier function constructed only from the online onboard range measurements. The proposed framework acts as a safety filter, modifying the acceleration references derived by the nominal position/velocity control loops, and is integrated into the PX4 autopilot stack. Experimental studies using a small multirotor aerial robot demonstrate the effectiveness and performance of the solution within dynamic maneuvering and unknown environments.