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We designed and built a three degrees-of-freedom (DOF) flapping wing robot, Flapperoo, to study the aerodynamic benefits of wing folding and twisting. Forces and moments of this physical model are measured in wind tunnel tests over a…
Our goal in this work is to expand the theory and practice of robot locomotion by addressing critical challenges associated with the robotic biomimicry of bat aerial locomotion. Bats are known for their pronounced, fast wing articulations,…
Single locomotion robots often struggle to adapt in highly variable or uncertain environments, especially in emergencies. In this paper, a multi-modal deformable robot is introduced that can both fly and drive. Compatibility issues with…
This paper presents the first steps toward a soft dolphin robot using a bio-inspired approach to mimic dolphin flexibility. The current dolphin robot uses a minimalist approach, with only two actuated cable-driven degrees of freedom…
To properly simulate and implement a quadcopter flight control for intended load and flight conditions, the quadcopter model must have parameters on various relationships including propeller thrust-torque, thrust-PWM, and thrust--angular…
This paper presents a novel morphing quadrotor, named MorphoCopter, covering its design, modeling, control, and experimental tests. It features a unique single rotary joint that enables rapid transformation into an ultra-narrow profile.…
Recent innovations in autonomous drones have facilitated time-optimal flight in single-drone configurations, and enhanced maneuverability in multi-drone systems by applying optimal control and learning-based methods. However, few studies…
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…
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…
This paper presents a novel approach to motion planning for two-wheeled drones that can drive on the ground and fly in the air. Conventional methods for two-wheeled drone motion planning typically rely on gradient-based optimization and…
Morphing aerial vehicles offer enhanced maneuverability and fuel efficiency compared to fixed-wing configurations. However, the trade-off between performance gains and control cost in dynamic, unsteady maneuvers remains under-explored. This…
The problem of distributed formation control of nonholonomic mobile robots is addressed in this paper, in which the robots are designed to track a formation. Collision avoidance among agents is guaranteed using a control law based on a…
Operating robots precisely and at high speeds has been a long-standing goal of robotics research. Balancing these competing demands is key to enabling the seamless collaboration of robots and humans and increasing task performance. However,…
Vision-based drone-to-drone detection has attracted increasing attention due to its importance in numerous tasks such as vision-based swarming, aerial see-and-avoid, and malicious drone detection. However, existing methods often encounter…
In-situ aeroengine maintenance works are highly beneficial as it can significantly reduce the current maintenance cycle which is extensive and costly due to the disassembly requirement of engines from aircrafts. However, navigating in/out…
Advanced technological breakthroughs and exceptional levels of innovation are enhancing the capabilities and potential of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones), and in so doing attracting the interest of a broader swath of…
As a kind of fully actuated system, omnidirectional multirotor aerial vehicles (OMAVs) has more flexible maneuverability than traditional underactuated multirotor aircraft, and it also has more significant advantages in obstacle avoidance…
Flapping-wing drones have attracted significant attention due to their biomimetic flight. They are considered more human-friendly due to their characteristics such as low noise and flexible wings, making them suitable for human-drone…
This paper studies the model of the probe-drogue aerial refueling system under aerodynamic disturbances, and proposes a docking control method based on terminal iterative learning control to compensate for the docking errors caused by…
In the area of multi-drone systems, navigating through dynamic environments from start to goal while providing collision-free trajectory and efficient path planning is a significant challenge. To solve this problem, we propose a novel…