Design and Analysis of Inverted Landing Mechanism and Biomimetic Strategy for Small-scale Quadrotors
Open Access
- Author:
- Davis, Brian
- Area of Honors:
- Mechanical Engineering
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Bo Cheng, Thesis Supervisor
Bo Cheng, Thesis Honors Advisor
Jean-Michel Mongeau, Faculty Reader - Keywords:
- biomimetic
quadrotor
quadcopter
drone
optimization
mechanical design
robot
robotics
simulation
inverted landing
fly
insect
landing
control
RREV
relative retinal rate of expansion
landing gear
landing mechanism
perching
perception
multirotor
uav
unmanned aerial vehicle
Crazyflie - Abstract:
- Insects such as flies combine sensory inputs, processing, control, and mechanical intelligence to execute complex landing behaviors. Maneuvers such as landing upside down on a ceiling require complex processing and control. A deeper understanding of these processes will provide insight into implementing sensors, controls, and mechanical design for small biomimetic quadrotors with limited weight and processing capacity. This research built on previous studies into the behaviors of flies to examine the act of landing on a ceiling with a small quadrotor. Aspects of landing such as robustness under different impact conditions, control algorithms, and sensory inputs were examined. In this study, a landing mechanism was designed to mount on a small quadrotor with the objective of increasing its landing robustness. A simulation environment was used to evaluate the impact of the landing mechanism design on the landing success rate and the control policy. Relative retinal rate of expansion (RREV) was discussed as one of the key sensory inputs. Control policies were derived by assuming ideal, instantaneous control and 2-D projectile motion during the rotation maneuver. These policies were evaluated in a simulated environment to provide a theoretical solution to compare with the learned behavior. The sensitivity of each control algorithm to the RREV input and the impact of error and uncertainty were examined. A method for increasing the landing mechanism performance was proposed, and a simulation environment was deployed to optimize landing mechanism geometry to increase robustness. In addition, to assist with future experiments, a launching platform was designed, fabricated, and tested to provide an initial vertical velocity to the quadrotor for testing under a wider range of conditions.