An Aerial Robot Path Follower Based on the ‘Carrot Chasing’ Algorithm

Abstract

This paper presents a three-dimensional path follower implementation for an aerial robot based on the carrot-chasing algorithm. The main objective was to improve the performance of the position controller of the PX4 autopilot when following a list of waypoints. This autopilot is widely used in the aerial robotics community, but we needed to improve its performance for navigation in cluttered environments. Different simulations have been carried out under the ROS (Robotic Operating System) environment for the comparison between the position controller of the PX4 and the proposed path follower. In addition, we have implemented different modes to generate the path from the input list of waypoints that are also analyzed in our simulation environment.