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The recent years have witnessed increased development of small, autonomous fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). In order to unlock widespread applicability of these platforms, they need to be capable of operating under a variety of…
This paper introduces the powerline unmanned surfer (PLUS) concept to extend the limited endurance of fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) via in-flight energy harvesting from overhead electrical distribution power lines, and develops…
This study presents a transformer-based approach for fault-tolerant control in fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), designed to adapt in real time to dynamic changes caused by structural damage or actuator failures. Unlike…
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…
Tracking position and orientation independently affords more agile maneuver for over-actuated multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) while introducing undesired downwash effects; downwash flows generated by thrust generators may…
Fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offer significant performance advantages over rotary-wing UAVs in terms of speed, endurance, and efficiency. However, these vehicles have traditionally been severely limited with regards to…
This paper investigates the position-tracking control problem for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with a turbojet engine via an integrated flight and propulsion control scheme. To this end, a hierarchical control…
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…
This paper presents a data-driven optimal control policy for a micro flapping wing unmanned aerial vehicle. First, a set of optimal trajectories are computed off-line based on a geometric formulation of dynamics that captures the nonlinear…
The techniques of precision agriculture include the possibility to execute crop monitoring tasks through the application of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). These platforms are flexible, easy to use and low-cost, and they are the best…
Gliding offers small fixed-wing UAVs extended endurance and silent operation but requires accurate energy management, especially under wind disturbances and obstacle constraints. Traditional Total Energy Control Systems based controllers…
Aeroelastic structures, from insect wings to wind turbine blades, experience transient unsteady aerodynamic loads that are coupled to their motion. Effective real-time control of flexible structures relies on accurate and efficient…
This paper describes an investigation of the possible benefits from wing optimisation in improving the performance of Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs). As an example we study the Avion (3.64 kg mass, 1.60 m span), being designed at the CSIR…
Robust cooperative formation control is investigated in this paper for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles in close formation flight to save energy. A novel cooperative control method is developed. The concept of virtual structure is…
Being motivated by ceiling inspection applications via unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which require close proximity flight to surfaces, a systematic control approach enabling safe and accurate close proximity flight is proposed in this…
Achieving precise, highly-dynamic maneuvers with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is a major challenge due to the complexity of the associated aerodynamics. In particular, unsteady effects -- as might be experienced in post-stall regimes or…
Efficient real-time trajectory planning and control for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles is challenging due to their non-holonomic nature, complex dynamics, and the additional uncertainties introduced by unknown aerodynamic effects. In…
This work introduces a novel analytical model for estimating the airspeed of fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) using solely propeller power and rotational speed measurements. The model can be used to replace Pitot-tube-based…
There is a growing need for uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) to operate in cities. However, the uneven urban landscape and complex street systems cause large-scale wind gusts that challenge the safe and effective operation of UAVs. Current…
We propose a short-term wind forecasting framework for predicting real-time variations in atmospheric turbulence based on nacelle-mounted anemometer and ground-level air-pressure measurements. Our approach combines linear stochastic…