Liang Lu, Alexander Yunda, Adrian Carrio, P. Campoy
{"title":"Robust autonomous flight in cluttered environment using a depth sensor","authors":"Liang Lu, Alexander Yunda, Adrian Carrio, P. Campoy","doi":"10.1177/1756829320924528","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829320924528","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents a novel collision-free navigation system for the unmanned aerial vehicle based on point clouds that outperform compared to baseline methods, enabling high-speed flights in cluttered environments, such as forests or many indoor industrial plants. The algorithm takes the point cloud information from physical sensors (e.g. lidar, depth camera) and then converts it to an occupied map using Voxblox, which is then used by a rapid-exploring random tree to generate finite path candidates. A modified Covariant Hamiltonian Optimization for Motion Planning objective function is used to select the best candidate and update it. Finally, the best candidate trajectory is generated and sent to a Model Predictive Control controller. The proposed navigation strategy is evaluated in four different simulation environments; the results show that the proposed method has a better success rate and a shorter goal-reaching distance than the baseline method.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2020-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829320924528","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49187773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Actuator modelling for attitude control using incremental nonlinear dynamic inversion","authors":"F. Binz, D. Moormann","doi":"10.1177/1756829320961925","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829320961925","url":null,"abstract":"Recently, the concept of incremental nonlinear dynamic inversion has seen an increasing adoption as an attitude control method for a variety of aircraft configurations. The reasons for this are good stability and robustness properties, moderate computation requirements and low requirements on modelling fidelity. While previous work investigated the robust stability properties of incremental nonlinear dynamic inversion, the actual closed-loop performance may degrade severely in the face of model uncertainty. We address this issue by first analysing the effects of modelling errors on the closed-loop performance by observing the movement of the system poles. Based on this, we analyse the neccessary modelling fidelity and propose simple modelling methods for the usual actuators found on small-scale electric aircraft. Finally, we analyse the actuator models using (flight) test data where possible.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829320961925","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42641848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shanyong Zhao, Zhen Liu, P. Che, Bingfei Li, Tianjiao Dang, Chen Bu
{"title":"Propulsion performance investigation of bio-inspired nano rotor base on fluid–structure interaction","authors":"Shanyong Zhao, Zhen Liu, P. Che, Bingfei Li, Tianjiao Dang, Chen Bu","doi":"10.1177/1756829319900886","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829319900886","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, the bio-inspired blade motion is introduced to improve the propulsive performance of nano rotor at an ultra-low Reynolds number. However, the complex flow interacts with the flexible composite blade structure resulting in the change of nano rotor propulsion performance and the vibration of blade structure. A composite nano rotor with blade-pitch motion is investigated computationally with a computational solvers based on fluid–structure interaction. The finite element model for the composite rotor is created and verified with a non-contact modal test. It is found that the simulation results matched well with the experimental results. Successively, the propulsive performance of a rigid nano rotor is studied. The propulsive performance of the nano rotor is analysed at different bio-inspired pitch frequencies. The results show that the figure of merit of the bio-inspired pitch rotor increases because of the bio-inspired blade pitch motion. And it is also found that the improvement of the propulsive performance of the nano rotor varies with the pitch frequency. The propulsive performance of the flexible bio-inspired nano rotor is also studied with by using fluid–structure interaction method. It is found that the computational results for flexible nano rotor are lower than that for rigid nano rotor. It is evident that it is necessary to consider the flexibility of the composite nano rotor when investigating the propulsion performance of bio-inspired nano rotor. And the response of blade structure is also studied. Structural dynamic analysis shows that the blade structure vibrates with small amplitude. And two peak values are found at the rotation frequency and the fundamental frequency of the nano rotor structure.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829319900886","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46434289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aaron Lopez Luna, Israel Cruz Vega, J. Martínez-Carranza
{"title":"Vertical surface contact with a Micro Air Vehicle","authors":"Aaron Lopez Luna, Israel Cruz Vega, J. Martínez-Carranza","doi":"10.1177/1756829320938745","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829320938745","url":null,"abstract":"In this work, we present a novel design for vertical surface contact using a two degree of freedom robotic arm attached to a Micro Air Vehicle. To achieve this, we propose a controller based on a Gain-Scheduled Proportional–Integral–Derivative approach. In previous works, the Gain-Scheduled Proportional–Integral–Derivative method was used to control the attitude of the Micro Air Vehicle, thus mitigating the perturbations induced by the movement of the arm. The novel approach of this work focuses on the achievement of an automatized full-contact with a rigid vertical surface using a Micro Air Vehicle with a robotic arm. We have improved the capabilities of the Gain-Scheduled Proportional–Integral–Derivative control to consider the inherent issues of approximating to a flat structure in order to carry out an aerial interaction task successfully. For the Micro Air Vehicle’s position feedback, a motion capture system is used in this work. A paintbrush attached to the end effector of the arm is used to draw over a whiteboard surface to show the full contact of the aerial manipulator. A distance sensor is added to the on-board sensors to measure the distance between the vertical surface and the system to ensure a correct distance and achieve a safe contact. Experimental testing results show that the controller can maintain a stable flight with sufficient accuracy to complete the aerial interaction tasks.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829320938745","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44365926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Barth, Jean-Philippe Condomines, M. Bronz, J. Moschetta, C. Join, M. Fliess
{"title":"Model-free control algorithms for micro air vehicles with transitioning flight capabilities","authors":"J. Barth, Jean-Philippe Condomines, M. Bronz, J. Moschetta, C. Join, M. Fliess","doi":"10.1177/1756829320914264","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829320914264","url":null,"abstract":"Micro air vehicles with transitioning flight capabilities, or simply hybrid micro air vehicles, combine the beneficial features of fixed-wing configurations, in terms of endurance, with vertical take-off and landing capabilities of rotorcrafts to perform five different flight phases during typical missions, such as vertical takeoff, transitioning flight, forward flight, hovering and vertical landing. This promising micro air vehicle class has a wider flight envelope than conventional micro air vehicles, which implies new challenges for both control community and aerodynamic designers. One of the major challenges of hybrid micro air vehicles is the fast variation of aerodynamic forces and moments during the transition flight phase which is difficult to model accurately. To overcome this problem, we propose a flight control architecture that estimates and counteracts in real-time these fast dynamics with an intelligent feedback controller. The proposed flight controller is designed to stabilize the hybrid micro air vehicle attitude as well as its velocity and position during all flight phases. By using model-free control algorithms, the proposed flight control architecture bypasses the need for a precise hybrid micro air vehicle model that is costly and time consuming to obtain. A comprehensive set of flight simulations covering the entire flight envelope of tailsitter micro air vehicles is presented. Finally, real-world flight tests were conducted to compare the model-free control performance to that of the Incremental Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion controller, which has been applied to a variety of aircraft providing effective flight performances.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829320914264","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45520717","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dnwm Heitzig, B. V. van Oudheusden, D. Olejnik, M. Karásek
{"title":"Effects of asymmetrical inflow in forward flight on the deformation of interacting flapping wings","authors":"Dnwm Heitzig, B. V. van Oudheusden, D. Olejnik, M. Karásek","doi":"10.1177/1756829320941002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829320941002","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the wing deformation of the DelFly II in forward flight conditions. A measurement setup was developed that maintains adequate viewing axes of the flapping wings for all pitch angles. Recordings of a high-speed camera pair were processed using a point tracking algorithm, allowing 136 points per wing to be measured simultaneously with an estimated accuracy of 0.25 mm. The measurements of forward flight show little change in the typical clap-and-peel motion, suggesting similar effectiveness in all cases. It was found that an air-buffer remains at all times during this phase. The wing rotation and camber reduction during the upstroke suggests low loading during the upstroke in fast forward flight. In slow cases a torsional wave and recoil is found. A study of the isolated effects showed asymmetric deformations even in symmetric freestream conditions. Furthermore, it shows a dominant role of the flapping frequency on the clap-and-peel, while the freestream velocity reduces wing loading outside this phase.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829320941002","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43331266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Characterization of ducted contra-rotating propeller propulsions","authors":"Longfei Zhao, S. Shkarayev","doi":"10.1177/1756829319837661","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829319837661","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents the experimental studies of the efficiency of open and ducted contra-rotating propeller systems operating in the low Reynolds number range. Eight off-the-shelf propellers were selected with a diameter in the range from 139 mm to 377 mm and seven ducts were built with the duct length of 0.28–0.53 the propeller diameter. Static and wind tunnel experiments were conducted. The maximum increase in the static thrust coefficient and power loading for the ducted contra-rotating propeller systems over the open systems was found to be 25% and 50%, respectively. This performance improvement for the medium size ducted systems is smaller than that observed in previous studies for ducts longer than the 0.8 propeller diameter but greater than for ducts shorter than the 0.15 propeller diameter. The thrust coefficient decreases with an advance ratio increase. The power loading of both open and ducted systems drops dramatically after reaching maxima.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829319837661","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46505250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Predictive feedback augmentation for manual control of an unmanned aerial vehicle with latency","authors":"J. Cox, K. Wong","doi":"10.1177/1756829319869645","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829319869645","url":null,"abstract":"Teleoperation of unmanned aerial vehicles is hampered by communication delay, which causes feedback from command inputs to take considerable time to be displayed to the operator. For an international internet connection, round trip latencies can reach 500 ms. The satellite connections used for military unmanned aerial vehicles can have latencies in the order of seconds. This delay presents a substantial control problem, which has been solved in the past by control abstraction (instead of “roll left” the aircraft might be instructed “go to these coordinates”). Manual control remains difficult. This study borrows the client-side prediction concept from multiplayer video games to attempt to address the control delay to allow manual control. An estimate of the change in the vehicle state due to the commands that are yet to affect the feedback is computed and then the feedback that the pilot receives is modified to reflect this predicted change. Because of this change, the pilot can see immediately the effect of the control inputs. This study has explored the concept and built a prototype system functional in real time for flight testing with qualitative results presented.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829319869645","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44582083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring aerial perching and grasping with dual symmetric manipulators and compliant end-effectors","authors":"Pengfei Yu, Zihao Wang, K. Wong","doi":"10.1177/1756829319877416","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829319877416","url":null,"abstract":"Inspired by talon of a predator bird, this paper presents a quadrotor with two 2- Degree of Freedoms (DOFs) compliant manipulators which could mimic bird perching and grasping. The symmetric configuration of the manipulators causes minimum shift in center of gravity and a minimum disturbance to the angular momentum of the platform during grasping and perching maneuvers. Thus, the dynamics of the manipulator is independent to that of the platform. Moreover, a compliant end-effector is introduced to decouple the dynamics of the unmanned aerial vehicles from the force interaction with the environment or target objects. Therefore, aerial manipulation problem is significantly simplified due to the minimum amount of disturbance among components. In addition, the manipulators could function as the landing gear, which allows larger work envelope, weight saving and less landing impact. It also has the potential to achieve a bird-like “perch and watch” to increase the endurance of unmanned aerial vehicles in missions that involve extended endurance.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829319877416","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47991077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jose Polo, Lluís Hontecillas, Ignacio Izquierdo, O. Casas
{"title":"Micro air vehicles energy transportation for a wireless power transfer system","authors":"Jose Polo, Lluís Hontecillas, Ignacio Izquierdo, O. Casas","doi":"10.1177/1756829319870057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1756829319870057","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this work is to demonstrate the feasibility use of an Micro air vehicles (MAV) in order to power wirelessly an electric system, for example, a sensor network, using low-cost and open-source elements. To achieve this objective, an inductive system has been modelled and validated to power wirelessly a sensor node using a Crazyflie 2.0 as MAV. The design of the inductive system must be small and light enough to fulfil the requirements of the Crazyflie. An inductive model based on two resonant coils is presented. Several coils are defined to be tested using the most suitable resonant configuration. Measurements are performed to validate the model and to select the most suitable coil. While attempting to minimize the weight at transmitter’s side, on the receiver side it is intended to efficiently acquire and manage the power obtained from the transmitter. In order to prove its feasibility, a temperature sensor node is used as demonstrator. The experiment results show successfully energy transportation by MAV, and wireless power transfer for the resonant configuration, being able to completely charge the node battery and to power the temperature sensor.","PeriodicalId":49053,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1756829319870057","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41727019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}