Dynamic obstacle avoidance for Multi-rotor UAV using chance-constraints based on obstacle velocity

To ensure the safety of autonomous Multi-rotor UAVs flying in urban airspace, they should be capable of avoiding collisions with unpredictable dynamic obstacles, such as birds. UAVs must consider both relative position and relative velocity to avoid moving obstacles. Model predictive control (MPC) can consider the multiple collision avoidance constraints in a constrained optimisation framework. This study proposes a chance-constraints based on obstacle velocity (CCOV) method, which can be combined with previous positional chance constraint methods to account for uncertainty in both position and velocity. This effectively prevents collision with high-velocity obstacles, even in a noisy environment. The proposed method has been performed on a numerical simulation built in MATLAB. •The ability to avoid dynamic obstacles is essential for future UAV operations.•Dynamic obstacle avoidance using chance-constrained MPC.•Introduction of chance-constraints based on obstacle velocity.•Improved avoidance ability for high-speed obstacles.•Robust collision avoidance in environments with extremely large observation errors.