10 accepted papers
Autonomous field robots operating in unstructured environments require robust perception to ensure safe and reliable operations. Recent advances in monocular depth estimation have demonstrated the potential of low-cost cameras as depth sensors; however, their adoption in field robotics remains limit…
Small uncrewed aerial systems (sUASs) are useful tools for 3D reconstruction due to their speed, ease of use, and ability to access high-utility viewpoints. Today, most aerial survey approaches generate a preplanned coverage pattern assuming a planar target region. However, this is inefficient since…
This letter presents the modeling, system identification and nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) design for longitudinal, full envelope velocity control of a small tiltwing hybrid unmanned aerial vehicle (H-UAV). A first-principles based dynamics model is derived and identified from flight dat
This letter presents the mathematical modeling, controller design, and flight testing of an overactuated vertical take-off and landing tiltwing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Based on simplified aerodynamics and first principles, a dynamical model of the UAV is developed which captures key aerodynam
Many multirotor Unmanned Aerial Systems applications have a critical need for precise position control in environments with strong dynamic external disturbances such as wind gusts or ground and wall effects. Moreover, to maximize flight time, small multirotor platforms have to operate within strict…
Compared to other vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) systems, a tailsitter minimizes the number of actuators and moving parts necessary. The downside of having a minimalistic actuation is its inherent low fault-tolerance. The failure of an actuator usually results in a loss of controllability, res…
Small, low-speed fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) operating autonomously, beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) will inevitably encounter winds rising to levels near or exceeding the vehicles' nominal airspeed. In this paper, we develop a nonlinear lateral-directional path following guidance…
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 situations. In this letter, we propose a perception system a
System identification of High Altitude Long Endurance fixed-wing aerial vehicles is challenging as its operating flight envelope covers wide ranges of altitudes and Mach numbers. We present a new global system identification framework geared towards such fixed-wing aerial platforms where the aim is…
This paper addresses the problem of trajectory optimization for the transition of a Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) tailsitter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The proposed strategy performs a model based optimization, where the model represents the closed-loop dynamics of the UAV with low-level…