Visual servoing with dynamics: control of an unmanned blimp

Image-based control of free-flying mechanical systems is addressed, with application to an indoor vision-guided blimp. A methodology is developed for incorporating the physical parameters of a mechanical system into the image plane for performing visual servoing. It is noted that under suitable conditions, namely the existence of a diffeomorphism between image features and robot pose, many tools from mechanical system control theory can be used directly when applied in the image plane. It is shown that when a suitable Jacobian map exists between pose and features, dynamics for vision-based control of aerial and underwater vehicles can easily be formulated. Experimental results show initial success at spatial tracking of simple objects.