Related papers: Fast control allocation algorithm for tilt-rotor V…
This paper presents a review of the design and application of model predictive control strategies for Micro Aerial Vehicles and specifically multirotor configurations such as quadrotors. The diverse set of works in the domain is organized…
The tailsitter vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) UAV is widely used due to its lower dead weight, which eliminates the actuators and mechanisms for tilting. However, the tailsitter UAV is susceptible to wind disturbances in multi-rotor…
Multilinked aerial robot is one of the state-of-the-art works in aerial robotics, which demonstrates the deformability benefiting both maneuvering and manipulation. However, the performance in outdoor physical world has not yet been…
We consider a motorized aircraft tethered to a central anchorage point in a configuration similar to a control line model airplane. For this system, we address the problem of automatic take-off and landing (ATOL) with a circular path, whose…
This paper discusses the design and the performance achievable with active aerodynamic attitude control in very low Earth orbit, i.e. below 450 km in altitude. A novel real-time algorithm is proposed for selecting the angles of deflection…
Utilizing a servo to tilt each rotor transforms quadrotors from underactuated to overactuated systems, allowing for independent control of both attitude and position, which provides advantages for aerial manipulation. However, this…
This paper discusses translation and attitude control in spacecraft rendezvous and soft docking. The target spacecraft orbit can be either circular or elliptic. The high fidelity model for this problem is intrinsically a nonlinear system…
In this paper, we study the control design of an automatic crosswind stabilization system for a novel, buoyantly-assisted aerial transportation vehicle. This vehicle has several advantages over other aircraft including the ability to…
Tried-and-true flapping wing robot simulation is essential in developing flapping wing mechanisms and algorithms. This paper presents a novel application-oriented flapping wing platform, highly compatible with various mechanical designs and…
This work presents a geometric backstepping controller for a variable-tilt omnidirectional multirotor that explicitly accounts for both servo and rotor dynamics. Considering actuator dynamics is essential for more effective and reliable…
Inverted landing in a rapid and robust manner is a challenging feat for aerial robots, especially while depending entirely on onboard sensing and computation. In spite of this, this feat is routinely performed by biological fliers such as…
A low-order method is presented for aerodynamic prediction of wings operating at near-stall and post-stall flight conditions. The method is intended for use in design, modeling, and simulation. In this method, the flow separation due to…
We develop and apply a novel shape optimization exemplified for a two-blade rotor with respect to the figure of merit ($FM$). This topologically assisted optimization (TAO) contains two steps. First a global evolutionary optimization is…
As off-the-shelf (OTS) autopilots become more widely available and user-friendly and the drone market expands, safer, more efficient, and more complex motion planning and control will become necessary for fixed-wing aerial robotic…
This paper is an addition to an article previously published by three of the authors that addresses the control of convertible fixed-wing aircraft with vectorized thrust. The control solution here developed extends the one presented in the…
Acceleration-commanded guidance laws (e.g., proportional navigation) are attractive for high-level decision making, but their direct deployment on fixed-wing UAVs is challenging because accelerations are not directly actuated and must be…
To participate in the Outback Medical Express UAV Challenge 2016, a vehicle was designed and tested that can hover precisely, take-off and land vertically, fly fast forward efficiently and use computer vision to locate a person and a…
Inverted landing is a challenging feat to perform in aerial robots, especially without external positioning. However, it is routinely performed by biological fliers such as bees, flies, and bats. Our previous observations of landing…
The recent development of novel aerial vehicles capable of physically interacting with the environment leads to new applications such as contact-based inspection. These tasks require the robotic system to exchange forces with…
Offering vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities and the ability to travel great distances are crucial for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vehicles. These capabilities make hybrid VTOLs the clear front-runners among UAM platforms. On the…