Creating a valid software configuration of a product line can require laborious customizations involving multiple configuration file types, such as feature models, domain-specific languages, or preprocessor defines in C header files. Using configurable off-the-shelf components causes additional complexity. Without checking of constraints across file types boundaries already at configuration tim...

Orientation estimation using low cost sensors is an important task for Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) in order to obtain a good feedback for the attitude controller. The challenges come from the low accuracy and noisy data of the MicroElectroMechanical System (MEMS) technology, which is the basis of modern, miniaturized inertial sensors. In this article, we describe a novel approach to obtain an ...

There is a growing interest in the modeling and control of model helicopters using nonlinear dynamic models and nonlinear control. Application of a new intelligent control approach called Brain Emotional Learning Based Intelligent Controller (BELBIC) to design autopilot for an autonomous helicopter is addressed in this paper. This controller is applied to a nonlinear model of a helicopter. This...

An approximate numerical mthod is presented for analysis and determination of modal characteristics in straight, pretwisted non-unifom helicopter blades. The analysis considers the coupled flapwise bending (out of plane), chordwise bending (in plane), and torsion vibration of both rotating and non-rotating blades. The proposed method is based on the integral expansion of Green functions (struct...

We present a framework to enable a fleet of rigidly attached quadrotor aerial robots to transport heavy objects along a known reference trajectory without interrobot communication or centralized coordination. Leveraging a distributed wrench controller, we provide exponential stability guarantees for the entire assembly, under a mild geometric condition. This is achieved by each quadrotor indepe...

This paper presents a spikes removing methodology for ultrasonic rangefinders with an application to a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle. Ultrasonic sensors suffer from spikes in distance measurements due to specular reflectance and acoustic noise. Removing these spikes is necessary for improving the hovering performance of the quadrotor. The spikes removing algorithm is based on the discrete w...

An auto-pilot system was created which could track and control a Syma S107 RC mini infrared helicopter in real-time. The helicopter was tracked using two LEDs attached to it, one situated on the front of the helicopter and one situated on the tail. Image processing and object tracking algorithms were used to track the position of the helicopter. In order to perform real-time tracking, the metho...

The detailed system design ofa· smallexperimental autonomous helicopter is described. The system requires no ground-to-helicopter communications and hence all automation hardware is on-board the helicopter. All elements ofthe system are described including the control computer, the flight computer (the helicopter-to-control-computer interface), the sensors and the software. A number of critical...

Autonomous helicopter flight represents a challenging control problem, with complex, noisy, dynamics. In this paper, we describe a successful application of reinforcement learning to autonomous helicopter flight. We first fit a stochastic, nonlinear model of the helicopter dynamics. We then use the model to learn to hover in place, and to fly a number of maneuvers taken from an RC helicopter co...

The purpose of this paper is concerned with the mathematical model development issues, necessary for a better prediction of dynamic responses of articulated rotor helicopters. The methodology is laid out based on mathematical model development for an articulated rotor helicopters, using the theories of aeroelastisity, finite element and the time domain compressible unsteady aerodynamics. The he...