Related papers: The ReSWARM Microgravity Flight Experiments: Plann…
Autonomous navigation through unknown environments is a challenging task that entails real-time localization, perception, planning, and control. UAVs with this capability have begun to emerge in the literature with advances in lightweight…
Aerospace production volumes have increased over time and robotic solutions have been progressively introduced in the aeronautic assembly lines to achieve high-quality standards, high production rates, flexibility and cost reduction.…
We are interested in long-term deployments of autonomous robots to aid astronauts with maintenance and monitoring operations in settings such as the International Space Station. Unfortunately, such environments tend to be highly dynamic and…
The escalating accumulation of orbital debris threatens the sustainability of space operations, necessitating active removal solutions that overcome the limitations of current fuel-dependent methods. To address this, this study introduces a…
This work proposes a framework that generates and optimally selects task-specific assembly configurations for a large group of homogeneous modular aerial systems, explicitly enforcing bounds on inter-module downwash. Prior work largely…
An autonomous system is presented to solve the problem of in space assembly, which can be used to further the NASA goal of deep space exploration. Of particular interest is the assembly of large truss structures, which requires precise and…
Achieving large-scale aerial swarms is challenging due to the inherent contradictions in balancing computational efficiency and scalability. This paper introduces Primitive-Swarm, an ultra-lightweight and scalable planner designed…
Perceiving and mapping the surroundings are essential for enabling autonomous navigation in any robotic platform. The algorithm class that enables accurate mapping while correcting the odometry errors present in most robotics systems is…
Small spacecraft now have precise attitude control systems available commercially, allowing them to slew in 3 degrees of freedom, and capture images within short notice. When combined with appropriate software, this agility can…
Search and rescue environments exhibit challenging 3D geometry (e.g., confined spaces, rubble, and breakdown), which necessitates agile and maneuverable aerial robotic systems. Because these systems are size, weight, and power (SWaP)…
Autonomy is a key challenge for future space exploration endeavours. Deep Reinforcement Learning holds the promises for developing agents able to learn complex behaviours simply by interacting with their environment. This paper investigates…
This paper presents a real-time trajectory planning framework for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) that is both safe and scalable. The proposed framework employs a decentralized, free-flight concept of operation in which each aircraft independently…
We consider the robust planning of energy-constrained unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), which act as mobile charging stations, to perform long-horizon aerial monitoring missions. More specifically, given a…
Low-latency telerobotics can enable more intricate surface tasks on extraterrestrial planetary bodies than has ever been attempted. For humanity to create a sustainable lunar presence, well-developed collaboration between humans and robots…
Traditional unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm missions rely heavily on expensive custom-made drones with onboard perception or external positioning systems, limiting their widespread adoption in research and education. To address this…
Modular Aerial Robot Systems (MARS) comprise multiple drone units with reconfigurable connected formations, providing high adaptability to diverse mission scenarios, fault conditions, and payload capacities. However, existing control…
Active matter physics and swarm robotics have provided powerful tools for the study and control of ensembles driven by internal sources. At the macroscale, controlling swarms typically utilizes significant memory, processing power, and…
Insect swarms are common phenomena in nature and therefore have been actively pursued in computer animation. Realistic insect swarm simulation is difficult due to two challenges: high-fidelity behaviors and large scales, which make the…
Trajectory optimization is a cornerstone of modern robot autonomy, enabling systems to compute trajectories and controls in real-time while respecting safety and physical constraints. However, it has seen limited usage in spaceflight…
Designing a robot or structure that can fold itself into a target shape is a process that involves challenges originated from multiple sources. For example, the designer of rigid self-folding robots must consider foldability from geometric…