Related papers: Testing Spacecraft Formation Flying with Crazyflie…
With the rapid development of simulation tools, the development and validation of autonomous robotic systems have become more efficient before real-world deployment. This paper presents a simulation-to-real implementation of an autonomous…
As robot autonomy improves, robots are increasingly being considered in the role of autonomous observation systems -- free-flying cameras capable of actively tracking human activity within some predefined area of interest. In this work, we…
Multirotor aerial robots excel at maneuvering in three-dimensional space, and recent advances enable nimble navigation in cluttered and confined environments, especially for small airframes. By contrast, platforms built for high-altitude…
In this work, we introduce OmniDrones, an efficient and flexible platform tailored for reinforcement learning in drone control, built on Nvidia's Omniverse Isaac Sim. It employs a bottom-up design approach that allows users to easily design…
Drones, like most airborne aerial vehicles, face inherent disadvantages in achieving agile flight due to their limited thrust capabilities. These physical constraints cannot be fully addressed through advancements in control algorithms…
Quadrotors are agile. Unlike most other machines, they can traverse extremely complex environments at high speeds. To date, only expert human pilots have been able to fully exploit their capabilities. Autonomous operation with on-board…
Micro aerial vehicles are becoming increasingly important in search and rescue operations due to their agility, speed, and ability to access confined spaces or hazardous areas. However, designing lightweight aerial systems presents…
While the capabilities of autonomous systems have been steadily improving in recent years, these systems still struggle to rapidly explore previously unknown environments without the aid of GPS-assisted navigation. The DARPA Subterranean…
In this article, a floating robotic emulation platform for a virtual demonstration of satellite motion in space is presented. The robotic platform design is characterized by its friction-less, levitating, yet planar motion over a…
Reinforcement learning (RL) offers transformative potential for robotic control in space. We present the first on-orbit demonstration of RL-based autonomous control of a free-flying robot, the NASA Astrobee, aboard the International Space…
In this paper, the deployment of drone base stations to provide higher performance in the cellular networks is analyzed. In particular, we investigate a new mobility model for drone base stations where they can move freely in the network,…
We propose the concept of a space mission to probe the so called flyby anomaly, an unexpected velocity change experienced by some deep-space probes using earth gravity assists. The key feature of this proposal is the use of GNSS systems to…
This article presents an original methodology for the prediction of steady turbulent aerodynamic fields. Due to the important computational cost of high-fidelity aerodynamic simulations, a surrogate model is employed to cope with the…
We propose a combined method for the collaborative transportation of a suspended payload by a team of rotorcraft. A recent distance-based formation-motion control algorithm based on assigning distance disagreements among robots generates…
Collaborative space robots are an emerging technology with high impact as robots facilitate servicing functions in collaboration with astronauts with higher precision during lengthy tasks, under tight operational schedules, with less risk…
There are several challenges for search and rescue robots: mobility, perception, autonomy, and communication. Inspired by the DARPA Subterranean (SubT) Challenge, we propose an autonomous blimp robot, which has the advantages of low power…
We reexamine non-Einsteinian effects observable in the orbital motion of low-orbit artificial Earth satellites. The motivations for doing so are twofold: (i) recent theoretical studies suggest that the correct theory of gravity might…
High-fidelity models are essential for accurately capturing nonlinear system dynamics. However, simulation of these models is often computationally too expensive and, due to their complexity, they are not directly suitable for analysis,…
Formation-flying studies to date have required continuous and minute corrections of the orbital elements and attitudes of the spacecraft.This increases the complexity, and associated risk, of controlling the formation, which often makes…
Robotic space missions have long depended on automation, defined in the 2015 NASA Technology Roadmaps as "the automatically-controlled operation of an apparatus, process, or system using a pre-planned set of instructions (e.g., a command…