ModQuad: The Flying Modular Structure that Self-Assembles in Midair

Saldaña, David; Gabrich, Bruno; Li, Guanrui; Yim, Mark; Kumar, Vijay

doi:10.1109/icra.2018.8461014

Cited by 89 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…In [24], [25], several IMUs were used for fault detection and estimation of sensor bias. In the previously developed modular flying robots [21], [22], the configuration of the robot is determined in advance, the IMU on each module is used for the distributed flight control tasks. In our design, IMUs on all flight modules are used for the estimation of the robot's configuration, but only the IMU from the control module is used for flight control.…”

Section: B Related Work and Technical Contributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Universal Flying Objects: Modular Multirotor System for Flight of Rigid Objects

Chirarattananon

2020

IEEE Trans. Robot.

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We introduce UFO, a modular aerial robotic platform for transforming a rigid object into a multirotor robot. To achieve this, we develop flight modules, in the form of a control module and propelling modules, that can be affixed to an object. The object, or payload, serves as the airframe of the vehicle. The modular design produces a highly versatile platform as it is reconfigurable by the addition or removal of flight modules, adjustment of the modules' arrangement, or change of payloads. To facilitate the flight control, we propose an IMU-based estimation strategy for rapid computation of the robot's configuration. When combined with the adaptive geometric controller for further refinement of uncertain parameters, stable flights are accomplished with minimal manual intervention or tuning required by a user. To this end, we demonstrate hovering and trajectory tracking flights through various robot's configurations with different dummy payloads, weighing ≈ 200 − 800 grams, using four to eight propelling modules. The results reveal that stable flights are attainable thanks to the proposed IMU-based estimation method. The flight performance is markedly improved over time through the adaptive scheme, with the position errors of a few centimeters after the parameter convergence.

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Section: B Related Work and Technical Contributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the domain of aerial robots, the Distributed Flight Array (DFA) has been proposed as a platform for research in distributed estimation and control algorithms [21]. The ModQuad [22] is an individual flight-capable structure. In swarm, they cooperate and are capable of docking to create a flying structure midair.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Universal Flying Objects: Modular Multirotor System for Flight of Rigid Objects

Chirarattananon

2020

IEEE Trans. Robot.

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“…Multiple quadrotors can be attached to each other using rigid connections. In a practical scenario, these quadcopters could connect to each other automatically, similarly to [63], or with human help. However, the attachment properties, such as the length or how they are connected, may not be known a priori at all or not with sufficient precision.…”

Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In [63], the most recent solution, a novel method to self-assemble the system of attached quadcopters in mid-air. Their controller struc- [38].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Autonomous Cooperative Flight of Rigidly Attached Quadcopters

Morín

Araújo

Tayamon

et al. 2019

2019 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

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Research within the area of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is a continuously expanding field due to their wide and diverse range of applications such as inspection, monitoring, mapping, precision agriculture, aerial imaging and entertainment. However, their application in tasks such as transportation, tool manipulation or assistance in emergency situations still poses many challenges.In this thesis, a novel strategy for cooperative flight of physically attached quadcopters which allows the quadcopters to perform the transportation of heavier loads and carrying out more complex tasks is proposed. Specifically, a method for online and automatic modelling and control of the quadcopters without human intervention is introduced.First, the method performs the estimation of the physical structure attaching the quadcopter's solely relying on information from the quadcopters Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) obtained via simple and short online experiments. Then, given the estimated physical structure, a stable operation of the quadcopters is achieved via a distributed controller, where the controller parameters are obtained via reinforcement learning. Finally, experimental results validate the proposed method, showing that a correct estimation of the physical structure is obtained as well as a stable flight is achieved for a set of connected quadcopters.Primero me gustaria dar las gracias a mis padres, ellos son los que llevan dos años no solo haciendo un esfuerzo económico enorme, pero además decir adiós a un hijo siempre es duro. Lo se porque también ha sido duro decirles adios a ellos. Han sabido estar no estando, apoyarme, darme cualquier cosa que necesitase. Han sufrido conmigo a lo largo de estos dos años, y por supuesto, han celebrado mis pequeños logros. Gracias a ellos, por esas miradas de orgullo aún cuando no entendian absolutamente nada de lo que estaba haciendo. Gracias, porque fuisteis y seguís siendo el molde, la guía y la brújula y soy quien soy por vosotros.Cristina, gracias por haber seguido luchando cada dia sin ninguna duda. Has sido mi primer apoyo en todo momento. La primera persona con la que celebraba lo bueno y a la primera a la que le contaba lo malo. Eres una de las principales razones por las que estoy donde estoy. Durante todo este tiempo no has parado de mirarme orgullosa de mi, y me has dado fuerzas en los peores días en los que todo se veía muy negro. Gracias, gracias, gracias.Soma and José, thank you very much for placing your trust in me after that first Skype interview. You both were two amazing supervisors, you gave total freedom to implement my ideas and you have patience with all my "this is super easy" that turned to be several weeks of not that easy work. This Master Thesis can be readable only because you read and correct it over more than 7 iterations. Thank you for keep placing your trust in me now.Gracias a Roberto y Mario. Se que la distancia ha hecho mella, pero quiero agradeceros que sigais ahí. Agradeceros tanto las conversaciones serias como las más estúpidas de todas. La d...

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Design, Control, and Motion Strategy of TRADY: Tilted‐Rotor‐Equipped Aerial Robot With Autonomous In‐Flight Assembly and Disassembly Ability

Sugihara

Nishio

Nagato

et al. 2023

Advanced Intelligent Systems

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State‐of‐the‐art aerial robots often prioritize maneuverability or manipulation capabilities, making it difficult to achieve both. The issue arises because aerial robots with agile mobility lack sufficient rotors for manipulation tasks, while those with manipulation ability are too large for agile mobility. To tackle this problem, a novel aerial robot unit named TRADY, tilted‐rotor‐equipped aerial robot with autonomous in‐flight assembly and disassembly capability, is introduced. The TRADY unit can self‐assemble/disassemble with another unit in mid‐air, adjusting the aircraft's control freedom by switching between under‐actuated and fully‐actuated control models. The system implementation involves a docking mechanism design, optimized rotor configuration, as well as a control system with the ability to switch between under‐actuated and fully‐actuated controllers. A proposed state transition method compensates for discrete changes during the controller switchover process. Also, a motion strategy for assembly/disassembly with hazardous condition recovery behavior is presented. Finally, through experiments, TRADY demonstrated a 90 % success rate in executing assembly/disassembly motions, and in the assembly state, it can utilize full‐pose tracking and generate over nine times the torque of a single unit. This is the first aerial robot developed to perform both assembly and disassembly while seamlessly transitioning between fully‐actuated and under‐actuated models.

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ModQuad: The Flying Modular Structure that Self-Assembles in Midair

Cited by 89 publications

References 12 publications

Universal Flying Objects: Modular Multirotor System for Flight of Rigid Objects

Universal Flying Objects: Modular Multirotor System for Flight of Rigid Objects

Autonomous Cooperative Flight of Rigidly Attached Quadcopters

Design, Control, and Motion Strategy of TRADY: Tilted‐Rotor‐Equipped Aerial Robot With Autonomous In‐Flight Assembly and Disassembly Ability

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