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Autonomous Close Formation Flight Control with Fixed Wing and Quadrotor Test Beds
Rice, Caleb Gu, Yu Chao, Haiyang Larrabee, Trenton Gururajan, Srikanth Napolitano, Marcello Mandal, Tanmay Rhudy, Matthew B.
Rice, Caleb
Gu, Yu
Chao, Haiyang
Larrabee, Trenton
Gururajan, Srikanth
Napolitano, Marcello
Mandal, Tanmay
Rhudy, Matthew B.
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Abstract
Autonomous formation flight is a key approach for reducing energy cost and managing traffic in future high density airspace. The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has allowed low-budget and low-risk validation of autonomous formation flight concepts. This paper discusses the implementation and flight testing of nonlinear dynamic inversion (NLDI) controllers for close formation flight (CFF) using two distinct UAV platforms: a set of fixed wing aircraft named “Phastball” and a set of quadrotors named “NEO.” Experimental results show that autonomous CFF with approximately 5-wingspan separation is achievable with a pair of low-cost unmanned Phastball research aircraft. Simulations of the quadrotor flight also validate the design of the NLDI controller for the NEO quadrotors.
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2016-05-11
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Hindawi Publishing Corporation
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Caleb Rice, Yu Gu, Haiyang Chao, et al., “Autonomous Close Formation Flight Control with Fixed Wing and Quadrotor Test Beds,” International Journal of Aerospace Engineering, vol. 2016, Article ID 9517654, 15 pages, 2016. doi:10.1155/2016/9517654