The Obstacle-restriction Method for Tele-operation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles with Restricted Motion

This paper presents a collision avoidance method for tele-operated unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The method is designed to assist the operator at all times, such that the operator can focus solely on the main objectives instead of avoiding obstacles. We restrict the altitude to be fixed in a three dimensional environment to simplify the control and operation of the UAV. The method contributes a number of desired properties not found in other collision avoidance systems for tele-operated UAVs. Our method i) can handle situations where there is no input from the user by actively stopping and proceeding to avoid obstacles, ii) allows the operator to slide between prioritizing staying away from objects and getting close to them in a safe way when so required, and iii) provides for intuitive control by not deviating too far from the control input of the operator. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the method in real world experiments with a physical hexacopter in different indoor scenarios. We also present simulation results where we compare controlling the UAV with and without our method activated.