Jerk estimation for quadrotor based on differential flatness

In this work, we propose a method to estimate the inertial jerk of a multicopter vehicle using inertial measurement unit (IMU) measurements, without taking any time derivatives nor the need for motor rpm sensors. If an attitude estimate is not available, a jerk estimate expressed in the vehicle-fixed frame can still be obtained. Our main result comes from the differential flatness property of the vehicle dynamics, which provides an expression that relates jerk with acceleration, angular velocity and thrust dynamics. Dynamic simulation shows that a reasonable estimation of jerk is obtained at linear and angular speed as fast as 2 m/s and 2 rad/s, respectively, and degraded with speed beyond those values. The proposed sensing model could be used to improve control performance or state estimation pipelines in multicopter vehicles.