Related papers: Modelling, Simulation, and Control of a Flexible S…
In this paper the planar orbit and attitude dynamics of an uncontrolled spacecraft is studied, taking on-board a deorbiting device. Solar and drag sails with the same shape are considered and separately studied. In both cases, these devices…
Soft robots are notoriously hard to control. This is partly due to the scarcity of models able to capture their complex continuum mechanics, resulting in a lack of control methodologies that take full advantage of body compliance. Currently…
We propose an optimal control method for simultaneous slewing and vibration control of flexible spacecraft. Considering dynamics on different time scales, the optimal control problem is discretized on micro and macro time grids using a…
Many unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can remain aerodynamically flyable after sustaining structural or control surface damage, yet insufficient robustness in conventional autopilots often leads to mission failure. This paper proposes a…
Design of robots at the small scale is a trial-and-error based process, which is costly and time-consuming. There are no good dynamic simulation tools to predict the motion or performance of a microrobot as it moves against a substrate. At…
Soft slender structures are ubiquitous in natural and artificial systems and can be observed at scales that range from the nanometric to the kilometric, from polymers to space tethers. We present a practical numerical approach to simulate…
Self-driving vehicles (SDVs) must be rigorously tested on a wide range of scenarios to ensure safe deployment. The industry typically relies on closed-loop simulation to evaluate how the SDV interacts on a corpus of synthetic and real…
We introduce FalconWing, an ultra-light (150 g) indoor fixed-wing UAV platform for vision-based autonomy. Controlled indoor environment enables year-round repeatable UAV experiment but imposes strict weight and maneuverability limits on the…
Sloshing Platform for In-Orbit Controller Experimentation is an ambitious, student run mission to design and fly a cubesat to study fluid sloshing in spacecraft. The project will examine zero-g propellant sloshing from an experimental…
Development of applications related to closed-loop control requires either testing on the field or on a realistic simulator, with the latter being more convenient, inexpensive, safe, and leading to shorter development cycles. To address…
We consider a mathematical model of an orbiting satellite, comprising a rigid carrier body and a flexible boom, operating under the influence of gravity gradient torque. This model is represented by a nonlinear control system, which…
The spacecraft attitude tracking problem is addressed with actuator faults and uncertainties among inertias, external disturbances, and, in particular, state estimates. A continuous sliding mode attitude controller is designed using…
Spacecraft attitude control using only magnetic torques is a time-varying system. Many designs were proposed using LQR and H-infinity formulations. The existence of the solutions depends on the controllability of the linear time-varying…
We describe a successive convex programming (Sequential Convex Programming (SCP)) based approach for estimate the set of points where a 5-degree of freedom (5-DoF) reusable launch vehicle (RLV) returning to a landing site can transition…
Reinforcement learning (RL) has emerged as a promising paradigm in complex and continuous robotic tasks, however, safe exploration has been one of the main challenges, especially in contact-rich manipulation tasks in unstructured…
Robot arms with lighter weight can reduce unnecessary energy consumption which is desirable in robotic industry. However, lightweight arms undergo undesirable elastic deformation. In this paper, the planar motion of a lightweight flexible…
While much work has been done recently in the realm of model-based control of soft robots and soft-rigid hybrids, most works examine robots that have an inherently serial structure. While these systems have been prevalent in the literature,…
Undesired lateral and longitudinal wheel slippage can disrupt a mobile robot's heading angle, traction, and, eventually, desired motion. This issue makes the robotization and accurate modeling of heavy-duty machinery very challenging…
The paper considers autonomous rendezvous maneuver and proximity operations of two spacecraft in presence of obstacles. A strategy that combines guidance and control algorithms is analyzed. The proposed closed-loop system is able to…
Growing demands in the semiconductor industry necessitate increasingly stringent requirements on throughput and positioning accuracy of lithographic equipment. Meeting these demands involves employing highly aggressive motion profiles,…