Related papers: Design and Control of a Midair-Reconfigurable Quad…
The ability to manipulate and interlace cables using aerial vehicles can greatly improve aerial transportation tasks. Such interlacing cables create hitches by winding two or more cables around each other, which can enclose payloads or can…
The size of a narrow gap traversable by a fixed-wing drone is limited by its wingspan. Inspired by birds, here, we enable the traversal of a gap of sub-wingspan width and height using a morphing-wing drone capable of temporarily sweeping in…
Whether for their maneuverability, autonomy or ergonomics, convertible UAVs, meaning those with the ability to take off or land vertically and fly like an airplane, present many interests. However, their dynamics are complicated by various…
Quadrotors have gained popularity over the last decade, aiding humans in complex tasks such as search and rescue, mapping and exploration. Despite their mechanical simplicity and versatility compared to other types of aerial vehicles, they…
This paper presents the design and control of a novel quadrotor with a variable geometry to physically interact with cluttered environments and fly through narrow gaps and passageways. This compliant quadrotor with passive morphing…
Omnidirectional aerial vehicles (OMAVs) have opened up a wide range of possibilities for inspection, navigation, and manipulation applications using drones. In this paper, we introduce MorphEUS, a morphable co-axial quadrotor that can…
This work proposes a strategy for organising quadrotors around a payload to enable hovering without external stimuli, together with a MATLAB software for modelling the dynamics of a quadrotor-payload system. Based on geometric concepts, the…
Avian-informed drones feature morphing wing and tail surfaces, enhancing agility and adaptability in flight. Despite their large potential, realising their full capabilities remains challenging due to the lack of generalized control…
Tailsitter aircraft attract considerable interest due to their capabilities of both agile hover and high speed forward flight. However, traditional tailsitters that use aerodynamic control surfaces face the challenge of limited control…
This paper develops and compares two motion planning algorithms for a tethered UAV with and without the possibility of the tether contacting the confined and cluttered environment. Tethered aerial vehicles have been studied due to their…
The use of Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) for inspection and surveillance missions has proved to be extremely useful, however, their usability is negatively impacted by the large power requirements and the limited operating time. This work…
Robots able to run, fly, and grasp have a high potential to solve a wide scope of tasks and navigate in complex environments. Several mechatronic designs of such robots with adaptive morphologies are emerging. However, the task of landing…
Aerial manipulators, composed of multirotors and robotic arms, have a structure and function highly reminiscent of avian species. This paper studies the tracking control problem for aerial manipulators. This paper studies the tracking…
In this paper, we propose a new modeling approach and a fast algorithm for 3D motion planning, applicable for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles. The goal is to construct the shortest path connecting given initial and final configurations…
Groups of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly utilized in transportation task as the combined strength allows to increase the maximum payload. However, the resulting mechanical coupling of the UAVs impose new challenges in…
In this paper, a new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) structure, referred to as swash mass UAV, is presented. It consists of a double blade coaxial shaft rotor and four swash masses that allow changing the orientation and maneuvering the UAV.…
Overactuated tilt-rotor platforms offer many advantages over traditional fixed-arm drones, allowing the decoupling of the applied force from the attitude of the robot. This expands their application areas to aerial interaction and…
In this work we present the optimization-based design and control of a fully-actuated omnidirectional hexarotor. The tilt angles of the propellers are designed by maximizing the control wrench applied by the propellers. This maximizes (a)…
Aerial-aquatic vehicles are capable to move in the two most dominant fluids, making them more promising for a wide range of applications. We propose a prototype with special designs for propulsion and thruster configuration to cope with the…
Tethered quadcopters are used for extended flight operations where the power to the system is provided via a tether connected to an external power source. In this work, we consider a system of multiple quadcopters powered by a single…