Related papers: Vertical Planetary Landing on Sloped Terrain Using…
Private lunar missions are faced with the challenge of robust autonomous navigation while operating under stringent constraints on mass, power, and computational resources. This work proposes a motion-field inversion framework that uses…
In this paper, we introduce a novel deep learning based solution to the Powered-Descent Guidance (PDG) problem, grounded in principles of nonlinear Stochastic Optimal Control (SOC) and Feynman-Kac theory. Our algorithm solves the PDG…
This paper addresses the problem of traversing through unknown, tilted, and narrow gaps for quadrotors using Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL). Previous learning-based methods relied on accurate knowledge of the environment, including the…
Landing is the most challenging and risky aspect of multirotor drone flight, and only simple landing methods exist for autonomous drones. We explore methods for autonomous drone landing in two scenarios. In the first scenario, we examine…
This paper addresses the modeling and attitude control of jumping quadrupeds in low-gravity environments. First, a convex decomposition procedure is presented to generate high-accuracy and low-cost collision geometries for quadrupeds…
Full autonomy for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) requires the capability to autonomously detect potential landing sites in unknown and unstructured terrain, allowing for self-governed mission completion or handling of emergency…
Perching with winged Unmanned Aerial Vehicles has often been solved by means of complex control or intricate appendages. Here, we present a simple yet novel method that relies on passive wing morphing for crash-landing on trees and other…
In this paper, two nonlinear methods for stabilizing the orientation of a Four-Wheel Independent Drive and Steering (4WIDS) robot while in the air are analyzed, implemented in simulation, and compared. AGRO (the Agile Ground Robot) is a…
In this paper, we propose a resource-efficient approach to provide an autonomous UAV with an on-board perception method to detect safe, hazard-free landing sites during flights over complex 3D terrain. We aggregate 3D measurements acquired…
Autonomous docking between Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and ground robots is essential for heterogeneous systems, yet most existing approaches target wheeled platforms whose limited mobility constrains exploration in complex terrains.…
We present VAPOR, a novel method for autonomous legged robot navigation in unstructured, densely vegetated outdoor environments using offline Reinforcement Learning (RL). Our method trains a novel RL policy using an actor-critic network and…
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…
This paper considers the problem of finding a landing spot for a drone in a dense urban environment. The conflicting requirement of fast exploration and high resolution is solved using a multi-resolution approach, by which visual…
Over the past decades, quadcopters have been investigated, due to their mobility and flexibility to operate in a wide range of environments. They have been used in various areas, including surveillance and monitoring. During a mission,…
Autonomous underwater gliders use buoyancy control to achieve forward propulsion via a sawtooth-like, rise-and-fall trajectory. Because gliders are slow-moving relative to ocean currents, glider control must consider the effect of oceanic…
Contrary to the stunning feats observed in birds of prey, aerial manipulation and grasping with flying robots still lack versatility and agility. Conventional approaches using rigid manipulators require precise positioning and are subject…
Autonomous lander missions on extraterrestrial bodies need to sample granular materials while coping with domain shifts, even when sampling strategies are extensively tuned on Earth. To tackle this challenge, this paper studies the few-shot…
In the future, extraterrestrial expeditions will not only be conducted by rovers but also by flying robots. The technical demonstration drone Ingenuity, that just landed on Mars, will mark the beginning of a new era of exploration…
Autonomous Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) have the potential to be employed for surveillance and monitoring tasks. By perching and staring on one or multiple locations aerial robots can save energy while concurrently increasing their overall…
This paper presents a vision-only autonomous flight system for small UAVs operating in controlled indoor environments. The system combines semantic segmentation with monocular depth estimation to enable obstacle avoidance, scene…