In this paper, we develop a nonlinear controller to achieve causal output tracking for a non-minimum phase vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft without velocity measurements. Due to the presence of disturbances, auxiliary control inputs are introduced in the state observer to attenuate their effects. By decomposing the original system into one minimum phase and one non-minimum phase su...

This paper discusses the conceptual design and proof-of-concept flight demonstration of a novel variable pitch quadrotor biplane Unmanned Aerial Vehicle concept for payload delivery. The proposed design combines vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), precise hover capabilities of a quadrotor helicopter and high range, endurance and high forward cruise speed characteristics of a fixed wing aircraf...

To expand the operative area for surveillance UAV, we propose the use of a relay UAV. The relay UAV is used as an intermediary node in a communication network: the surveillance UAV transmits data to the relay UAV, which sends it back to a ground station. In this exploratory report, we calculate the route for a relay UAV, to ensure communication at certain time points, given the route of the sur...

For more than two decades, Mars has been of great interest for scientific exploration, using orbiting spacecrafts or landers. Orbiters like “Mars Express” cover large areas and give images of the surface with a resolution limited to several meters. Rovers missions, like “Pathfinder” or “MER”, offer the ability to maneuver to scientifically interesting sites, perform analysis of soil and rock co...

Objectives: To study a hybrid VTOL- Blended wing body design for its wings and elevons perform CFD simulations with the wings. The steps designing configuration Elevon positioning involve different variables giving rise to large number of possibilities control surface. In current methods, have been proposed selection optimized validated model. Methods: Meta-heuristic methods like genetic algori...

Performance characteristic of an Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) is investigated using a newly developed heuristic approach. Almost all flight phases of any air vehicle can be categorized into trim and maneuvering flights. In this paper, a new envelope called trim-ability envelope, is introduced and sketched within the conventional flight envelope for a small UAV. Optimal maneuverability of the inte...

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS), commonly referred to as drones, are finding applications in several ecological research areas since remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) technology has ceased to be a military prerogative. Fixed-wing RPA have been tested for line transect aerial surveys of geographically dispersed marine mammal species. Despite many advantages, their systematic use is far from a realit...

This paper illustrates the application of an adaptive flight control architecture to a scale quad-rotor. For autonomous VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) flight, it is common to separate the control problem into an inner fast loop that controls attitude and an outer slow loop that controls the trajectory of the VTOL. In this paper we augment a conventional PD controller conceived mainly for h...