UAV-USV cooperative tracking based on MPC

To address the problem of cooperative real-time tracking of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and unmanned surface vehicle (USV), a real-time tracking control strategy based on model predictive control (MPC) is proposed. Firstly, the mathematical models of UAV and USV are established, and then the trajectory generated by USV heave motion is taken as the constraint condition of MPC; furthermore, the UAV-USV cooperative tracking problem is transformed into a quadratic programming problem with constraints, and the Hildreth algorithm for solving the quadratic programming problem is improved to ensure the real-time performance of the UAV-USV tracking process. Simulation experiments show that the designed model predictive controller can realize the real-time trajectory tracking of UAV-USV. The improved Hildreth algorithm also has a higher operation speed, which effectively ensures the real-time tracking of UAV-USV.