Related papers: Towards Robust Optimization-Based Autonomous Dynam…
Dynamic soaring enables sustained flight by extracting energy from wind shear, yet it is commonly understood as a cycle-level maneuver that assumes stable flow conditions. In realistic unsteady environments, however, such assumptions are…
This paper presents an algorithm for solving the problem of tracking smooth curves by a fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle travelling with a constant airspeed and under a constant wind disturbance. The algorithm is based on the idea of…
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…
Co-design optimisation of autonomous systems has emerged as a powerful alternative to sequential approaches by jointly optimising physical design and control strategies. However, existing frameworks often neglect the robustness required for…
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…
The research presents an automated method for determining the trajectory of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for wind turbine inspection. The proposed method enables efficient data collection from multiple wind installations using UAV…
This paper presents real-time guidance strategies for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can be used to enhance their flight endurance by utilizing {\sl insitu} measurements of wind speeds and wind gradients. In these strategies, periodic…
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…
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…
Thermal soaring saves much energy, but flying large distances in this form represents a great challenge for birds, people and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The solution is to make use of so-called thermals, which are localized, warmer…
This study presents a real-time guidance strategy for an unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can be used to enhance their flight endurance by utilizing {\sl insitu} measurements of wind speeds and wind gradients. In these strategies,…
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) play a crucial role in meteorological research, particularly in environmental wind field measurements. However, several challenges exist in current wind measurement methods using UAVs that need to be…
Today, low-altitude fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are largely limited to primitively follow user-defined waypoints. To allow fully-autonomous remote missions in complex environments, real-time environment-aware navigation is…
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…
The albatross optimized flight maneuver -- known as dynamic soaring -- is nothing but a wonder of biology, physics, and engineering. By utilizing dynamic soaring, the bird can travel in the desired flight direction almost for free by…
In recent years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used for numerous inspection and video capture tasks. Manually controlling UAVs in the vicinity of obstacles is challenging, however, and poses a high risk of collisions. Even for…
Autonomous fixed-wing flight is becoming a key capability in aerial robotics, enabling sensing, mobility, and contingency operations across both small-scale Uncrewed Aircraft Systems and large-scale Advanced Air Mobility. During unpowered…
The autonomous operation of flexible-wing aircraft is technically challenging and has never been presented within literature. The lack of an exact modeling framework is due to the complex nonlinear aerodynamic relationships governed by the…
The success of surveillance applications involving small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) depends on how long the limited on-board power would persist. To cope with this challenge, alternative renewable sources of lift are sought. One…
The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are efficient tools for diverse tasks such as electronic reconnaissance, agricultural operations and disaster relief. In the complex three-dimensional (3D) environments, the path planning with obstacle…