Planar-Sector LOS Guidance for Interception of Agile Targets with Lifting-Wing Quadcopters
Linkai Liu, Kun Yang, Han Zou, Chen Min, Shuli Lv, Shuai Wang, Quan Quan
AI summary
Problem
Conventional visual servoing for drone interception relies on restrictive conical line-of-sight constraints that limit thrust vectors and maneuverability, while most studies use standard quadrotors that lack the speed and range needed to catch agile targets. Existing validations also rarely test against targets with unpredictable lateral and vertical accelerations.
Approach
The authors introduce a Planar-Sector Line-of-Sight (PS-LOS) guidance law that relaxes vertical constraints to preserve maneuverability, paired with a two-layer controller featuring coordinated-turn compensation and a delay-compensated EKF for low-latency target tracking.
Key results
- Novel PS-LOS guidance law that expands feasible acceleration while maintaining target visibility
- Two-layer controller with coordinated-turn compensation and formal closed-loop stability proof
- Delay-compensated EKF providing low-latency, continuous target state estimates
- Outdoor flight experiments demonstrating successful interceptions against unpredictable agile targets up to 138 m
Why it matters
Provides a practical, high-performance framework for anti-drone defense and autonomous interception in dynamic or GPS-denied environments.
Abstract
This paper proposes a Planar-Sector Line-of- Sight (PS-LOS) guidance law and an accompanying control stack for lifting-wing quadcopters, enabling robust image-based interception of agile targets. The PS-LOS relaxes conventional conical constraints, preserving maneuverability while reducing aerodynamic penalties. For perception, we employ a delay- compensated Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to provide low- latency, continuous target estimates. The controller is tailored to lifting-wing quadcopter dynamics and includes coordinated- turn compensation. Outdoor flight experiments demonstrate interceptions against unpredictable agile targets up to 138 m, validating the method’s range and robustness.