Critical subsystem failure mitigation in an indoor UAV testbed

An autonomous safety mechanism is presented, as implemented in an indoor flying vehicle research testbed. The safety mechanism relies on integration of onboard gyroscope measurements and thrust commands to estimate the vehicle state for short lengths of time. It is used in the case of loss of external control signal or loss of external measurement data, to reduce the likelihood of a vehicle crash, or at least reduce the severity of an unavoidable crash. As UAVs move into ever more mainstream applications with increased public interaction, such safety systems become more critical.