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A Single Motor Nano Aerial Vehicle with Novel Peer-to-Peer Communication and Sensing Mechanism

Jingxian Wang, Andrew G. Curtis, Mark Yim, Michael Rubenstein

TL;DR

This work introduces MP3, a 20 g, single-motor nano UAV that integrates infrared peer-to-peer communication with triangulation-based sensing to achieve millimeter-precision global localization without external infrastructure. By spinning the body and using three directional photodiodes alongside omnidirectional IR transmitters, MP3 conducts timing-based bearing, distance, and elevation measurements and fuses them with known beacon positions to localize itself in 3D. The authors detail the hardware design, optical/electrical components, communication protocol, and a three-step localization algorithm, and validate the approach through position-holding, waypoint navigation, and peer-to-peer experiments showing substantial improvements in localization accuracy and stability when peers participate. The results suggest MP3’s lightweight, safety-conscious, infrastructure-free design is promising for scalable swarm applications like collaborative exploration, shape formation, and human-swarm interaction, with potential improvements in flight time and communication bandwidth discussed for future work.

Abstract

Communication and position sensing are among the most important capabilities for swarm robots to interact with their peers and perform tasks collaboratively. However, the hardware required to facilitate communication and position sensing is often too complicated, expensive, and bulky to be carried on swarm robots. Here we present Maneuverable Piccolissimo 3 (MP3), a minimalist, single motor drone capable of executing inter-robot communication via infrared light and triangulation-based sensing of relative bearing, distance, and elevation using message arrival time. Thanks to its novel design, MP3 can communicate with peers and localize itself using simple components, keeping its size and mass small and making it inherently safe for human interaction. We present the hardware and software design of MP3 and demonstrate its capability to localize itself, fly stably, and maneuver in the environment using peer-to-peer communication and sensing.

A Single Motor Nano Aerial Vehicle with Novel Peer-to-Peer Communication and Sensing Mechanism

TL;DR

This work introduces MP3, a 20 g, single-motor nano UAV that integrates infrared peer-to-peer communication with triangulation-based sensing to achieve millimeter-precision global localization without external infrastructure. By spinning the body and using three directional photodiodes alongside omnidirectional IR transmitters, MP3 conducts timing-based bearing, distance, and elevation measurements and fuses them with known beacon positions to localize itself in 3D. The authors detail the hardware design, optical/electrical components, communication protocol, and a three-step localization algorithm, and validate the approach through position-holding, waypoint navigation, and peer-to-peer experiments showing substantial improvements in localization accuracy and stability when peers participate. The results suggest MP3’s lightweight, safety-conscious, infrastructure-free design is promising for scalable swarm applications like collaborative exploration, shape formation, and human-swarm interaction, with potential improvements in flight time and communication bandwidth discussed for future work.

Abstract

Communication and position sensing are among the most important capabilities for swarm robots to interact with their peers and perform tasks collaboratively. However, the hardware required to facilitate communication and position sensing is often too complicated, expensive, and bulky to be carried on swarm robots. Here we present Maneuverable Piccolissimo 3 (MP3), a minimalist, single motor drone capable of executing inter-robot communication via infrared light and triangulation-based sensing of relative bearing, distance, and elevation using message arrival time. Thanks to its novel design, MP3 can communicate with peers and localize itself using simple components, keeping its size and mass small and making it inherently safe for human interaction. We present the hardware and software design of MP3 and demonstrate its capability to localize itself, fly stably, and maneuver in the environment using peer-to-peer communication and sensing.
Paper Structure (17 sections, 9 equations, 18 figures)

This paper contains 17 sections, 9 equations, 18 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Robot Design
  3. Overall Concept
  4. The Communication and Sensing System
  5. Theory of Operation
  6. Optical Design
  7. Electrical Design
  8. Communication Protocol Design
  9. Global Localization Algorithm
  10. The Mechanical System
  11. The Control Method
  12. Drone Flight Experiments
  13. Position Holding Experiment
  14. Horizontal and Vertical Movement Experiment
  15. Peer-to-Peer Communication and Sensing Experiment
  16. ...and 2 more sections

Figures (18)

  • Figure 1: A photo of MP3. MP3's size is $\varnothing 112\times38$mm and weighs 20.0g. As MP3 flies, the whole robot rotates around the geometric axis indicated in the figure.
  • Figure 2: An exploded view of MP3. MP3 has 7 major parts: 3D printed main and top chassis, a main PCB, a top transmitter, a motor-propeller assembly, and two batteries. The bottom transmitter is placed at the center of the bottom side of the main PCB.
  • Figure 3: The setup of the test environment. Several beacons and MP3s are in the environment, communicating and providing others with localization. Two cameras, one on the top and one from the side, capture the trajectory of the drone, providing us with the drones' reference trajectory for analysis only. Blue arrows indicate uni-direction transmission from the beacons to MP3s, and red arrows indicate bi-directional communication between MP3s. Figure is not drawn to scale.
  • Figure 4: MP3's communication and sensing system. (a) shows the receiver system (RX) on MP3, (b) shows the top and bottom transmitter system (TX) on MP3, and (c) shows the transmitter system on the Beacon. Note that the transmitter system on the MP3 and on the Beacon are the same.
  • Figure 5: A simplified model of MP3. (a) shows the environment MP3 operates in and (b) shows the field of view of all three receivers.
  • ...and 13 more figures