Control and State Estimation of Vehicle-Mounted Aerial Systems in GPS-Denied, Non-Inertial Environments

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2602.04057v1
• Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2026 22:45:34 GMT
• Title: Control and State Estimation of Vehicle-Mounted Aerial Systems in GPS-Denied, Non-Inertial Environments
• Abstract summary: We present a robust control and estimation framework for quadrotors operating in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-denied, non-inertial environments.<n>Our method relies exclusively on external position measurements combined with a Extended Kalman Filter with Unknown Inputs (EKF-UI) to account for platform motion.<n>Compared to standard EKF, the proposed method significantly improves stability and trajectory tracking without requiring inertial feedback.
• Score: 5.191474416940848
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Abstract: We present a robust control and estimation framework for quadrotors operating in Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS)-denied, non-inertial environments where inertial sensors such as Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) become unreliable due to platform-induced accelerations. In such settings, conventional estimators fail to distinguish whether the measured accelerations arise from the quadrotor itself or from the non-inertial platform, leading to drift and control degradation. Unlike conventional approaches that depend heavily on IMU and GNSS, our method relies exclusively on external position measurements combined with a Extended Kalman Filter with Unknown Inputs (EKF-UI) to account for platform motion. The estimator is paired with a cascaded PID controller for full 3D tracking. To isolate estimator performance from localization errors, all tests are conducted using high-precision motion capture systems. Experimental results in a moving-cart testbed validate our approach under both translational in X-axis and Y-axis dissonance. Compared to standard EKF, the proposed method significantly improves stability and trajectory tracking without requiring inertial feedback, enabling practical deployment on moving platforms such as trucks or elevators.

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