Related papers: Automatic Circular Take-off and Landing of Tethere…
A control design approach to achieve fully autonomous take-off and flight maneuvers with a tethered aircraft is presented and demonstrated in real-world flight tests with a small-scale prototype. A ground station equipped with a controlled…
The problem of autonomous launch and landing of a tethered rigid aircraft for airborne wind energy generation is addressed. The system operates with ground-based power conversion and pumping cycles, where the tether is repeatedly reeled in…
The design of a prototype to carry out take-off and flight tests with tethered aircrafts is presented. The system features a ground station equipped with a winch and a linear motion system. The motion of these two components is regulated by…
This paper presents a flight control design for compound Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) vehicles. With their multitude of degrees of controllability as well as the significant variations in their flight characteristics, VTOL vehicles…
This paper presents the mathematical modeling, controller design, and flight-testing of an over-actuated Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) tiltwing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Based on simplified aerodynamics and first-principles, a…
An approach to control tethered wings for airborne wind energy is proposed. A fixed length of the lines is considered, and the aim of the control system is to obtain figure-eight crosswind trajectories. The proposed technique is based on…
Fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft pose a unique control challenge that stems from complex aerodynamic interactions between wings and rotors. Thus, accurate estimation of external forces is indispensable for achieving…
Airborne wind energy systems aim to harvest the power of winds blowing at altitudes higher than what conventional wind turbines reach. They employ a tethered flying structure, usually a wing, and exploit the aerodynamic lift to produce…
This paper presents the development of a comprehensive dynamics and stabilizing control architecture for Tethered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) systems. The proposed architecture integrates both onboard and ground-based controllers,…
An approach to the control of a VTOL vehicle equipped with complementary thrust-direction tilting capabilities that nominally yield full actuation of the vehicle's position and attitude is developed. The particularity and difficulty of the…
A Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) aircraft is capable of short/vertical takeoffs and landings, thus eliminating the requirement of long runways. This feature makes them suitable for a broader variety of missions, generally not…
Energy harvesting based on tethered kites benefits from exploiting higher wind speeds at higher altitudes. The setup considered in this paper is based on a pumping cycle. It generates energy by winching out at high tether forces, driving an…
Enabling vertical take-off and landing while providing the ability to fly long ranges opens the door to a wide range of new real-world aircraft applications while improving many existing tasks. Tiltrotor vertical take-off and landing (VTOL)…
The control design of an airborne wind energy system with rigid aircraft, vertical take-off and landing, and pumping operation is described. A hierarchical control structure is implemented, in order to address all operational phases:…
This paper focuses on the design of a stabilizing control law for an aerial vehicle which is physically connected to a ground station by means of a tether cable. By taking advantage of the tensile force acting along the taut cable, it is…
This paper deals with the dynamics and controls of a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle that is connected to a fixed point on the ground via a tether. Tethered quadrotors have been envisaged for long-term aerial surveillance with high-speed…
Capabilities of long-range flight and vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) are essential for Urban Air Mobility (UAM). Tiltrotor VTOLs have the advantage of balancing control simplicity and system complexity due to their redundant control…
Hybrid unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) integrate the efficient forward flight of fixed-wing and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capabilities of multicopter UAVs. This paper presents the modeling, control and simulation of a new type of…
We present a novel controller for fixed-wing UAVs that enables autonomous soaring in an orographic wind field, extending flight endurance. Our method identifies soaring regions and addresses position control challenges by introducing a…
Tilt rotor aircraft combine the benefits of both helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, this makes them popular for a variety of applications, including Search and Rescue and VVIP transport. However, due to the multiple flight modes,…