19 accepted papers
The joint optimization of physical parameters and controllers in robotic systems is challenging. This is due to the difficulties of predicting the effect that changes in physical parameters have on final performances. At the same time, physical and morphological modifications can improve robot capab
Defect diagnosis in urban infrastructure is crucial for public safety. Traditional manual inspections face significant challenges in terms of accuracy and cost-effectiveness. In this paper, we propose a lightweight and hardware-friendly large-scale infrastructure detector, CUPID, highly suitable for
This paper proposes the ProxFly, a residual deep Reinforcement Learning (RL)-based controller for close proximity quadcopter flight. Specifically, we design a residual module on top of a cascaded controller (denoted as basic controller) to generate high-level control commands, which compensate for e
We present an autonomous aerial system for safe and efficient through-the-canopy fruit counting. Aerial robot applications in large-scale orchards face significant challenges due to the complexity of fine-tuning flight paths based on orchard layouts, canopy density, and plant variability. Through-th
This paper proposes an adaptive near-hover position controller for quadcopters, which can be deployed to quadcopters of very different mass, size and motor constants, and also shows rapid adaptation to unknown disturbances during runtime. The core algorithmic idea is to learn a single policy that ca…
Multicopters with collision-resilient designs can operate with trajectories involving collisions. This paper presents a sampling-based method that can exploit collisions for better motion planning. The method is built upon the basis of the RRT* algorithm and takes advantages of fast motion primitive…
The capabilities of autonomous flight with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have significantly increased in recent times. However, basic problems such as fast and robust geo-localization in GPS-denied environments still remain unsolved. Existing research has primarily concentrated on improving the ac…
Aerial vehicles with collision resilience can operate with more confidence in environments with obstacles that are hard to detect and avoid. This paper presents the methodology used to design a collision resilient aerial vehicle with icosahedron tensegrity structure. A simplified stress analysis of…
Generating agile maneuvers for a quadrotor with a cable-suspended load is a challenging problem. State-of-the-art approaches often need significant computation time and complex parameter tuning. We use a coordinate-free geometric formulation and exploit a differential flatness based hybrid model of
We present a novel approach to increase the flight time of a multirotor via mid-air docking and in-flight battery switching. A main quadcopter flying using a primary battery has a docking platform attached to it. A `flying battery' - a small quadcopter carrying a secondary battery - is equipped with…
Limited flight range is a common problem for multicopters. To alleviate this problem, we propose a method for finding the optimal speed and heading of a multicopter when flying a given path to achieve the longest flight range. Based on a novel multivariable extremum seeking controller with adaptive…
We present RAPPIDS: a novel collision checking and planning algorithm for multicopters that is capable of quickly finding local collision-free trajectories given a single depth image from an onboard camera. The primary contribution of this work is a new pyramid-based spatial partitioning method that
Energy sources such as batteries do not decrease in mass after consumption, unlike combustion-based fuels. We present the concept of staging energy sources, i.e. consuming energy in stages and ejecting used stages, to progressively reduce the mass of aerial vehicles in-flight which reduces power con…
In certain challenging environments, such as inside buildings on fire, the main sensors (e.g. cameras, LiDARs and GPS systems) used for multicopter localization can become unavailable. Direct integration of the inertial navigation sensors (the accelerometer and rate gyroscope), is however unaffected…
This paper presents a novel quadcopter design that uses passive rotary joints to enable rapid aerial morphing without the use of additional actuators. The normally rigid connections between the arms of the quadcopter and the central body are replaced by sprung hinges that allow for the arms of the q…
In this work we introduce an approach that allows a quadcopter to find the velocity which maximizes its flight time (endurance) or flight distance (range) while moving along a given path, using on-board power measurement. The proposed strategy is based on Extremum Seeking control and (a) does not re…
We present a continuous-time collision detection algorithm for quickly detecting whether certain polynomial trajectories in time intersect with convex obstacles. The algorithm is used in conjunction with an existing multicopter trajectory generation method to achieve rapid, obstacle-aware motion pla…
This paper presents a novel quadcopter design with an added momentum wheel for enhanced stability. The novel vehicle has improved torque disturbance rejection capabilities compared to a standard quadcopter. An analysis of the vehicle dynamics shows that the effect of torque disturbances decreases mo…
A state estimator for a quadrocopter is presented, using measurements from an accelerometer, angular rate gyroscope, and a set of ultra-wideband ranging radios. The estimator uses an extended aerodynamic model for the quadrocopter, where the full 3D airspeed is observable through accelerometer measu…