Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) are notoriously
difficult to control as they are light, susceptible to minor
fluctuations in the environment, and obey highly non-linear
dynamics. Indeed, traditional control methods, particularly
those relying on difficult to obtain models of the interaction
between an MAV and its environment have been unable
to...
Micro air vehicles (MAV's) and small unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAV) are remotely piloted or autonomous aircraft with a take-off mass range between 50 g and few kilograms. These vehicles, as well as natural fliers such as bats and insects, utilize a variety of elastic wing structures including thin membranes. Over...
This paper addresses control surface segmentation in micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) by leveraging neuro-evolutionary techniques that allow the control of a higher number of control surfaces. Applying classical control methods to MAVs is a difficult process due to the complexity of the control laws with fast and highly non-linear dynamics....
Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has grown out of traditional research and military applications and has captivated the commercial and consumer markets, showing the ability to perform a spectrum of autonomous functions. This technology has the capability of saving lives in search and rescue, fighting wildfires in environmental monitoring, and...
There is a growing US interest in UAVs for many applications ranging from agriculture to military. One area of improvement that can be realized in each category is propulsion. Engines with greater efficiency would result in longer mission duration, leading to cost savings and increased usefulness for UAV owners and...
This thesis addresses Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) control by leveraging learning based techniques to improve robustness of the control system. Applying classical control methods to MAVs is a difficult process due to the complexity of the control laws with fast and highly non-linear dynamics. These methods are mostly based on...
This project created a stand-alone unit capable of providing on-board sensing and processing for robotic vehicles. This unit was designed to be compact, lightweight, inexpensive, and adaptable. The goal of this project is to help advance robotics research in mapping and multi-agent coordination by making it easier to equip vehicles...
Quadrotors are unique among Micro Aerial Vehicles in providing excellent maneuverability (as opposed to winged flight),while maintaing a simple mechanical construction (as opposed to helicopters). This mechanical simplicity comes at a cost of increased controller complexity. Quadrotors are inherently unstable, in the sense that they are essentially unflyable by a...
Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) technology is a rapidly developing technological marketspace. This thesis focuses on micro, tethered, coaxial UASs and the development of an electrically-tethered observation platform (ETOP). The thesis details the current status of the technology as well as current products on the market. Stability considerations, critical when adding...
A 1 kW series hybrid powertrain was developed at Oregon State University for use in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This powertrain was designed to give mission flexibility and increased flight time to fixed-wing vertical takeoff and landing UAVs and multirotor UAVs. The powertrain components, an internal combustion engine and a...