April 9th (Thursday) John Dietl (Laboratory of Intelligent Machine Systems, Cornell University)
Ornithopter Flight Stabilization
Abstract:
Ornithopters, unmanned-air-vehicles flying using flapping wings to generate thrust, are analyzed for forward flight and hovering trajectories. The authors have used Newton method to generate the desired trajectories with a multiple-shooting parameterization of the periodic flight conditions inherent in flapping flight. The resulting trajectories are analyzed for stability, and linearized models of the dynamics are generated for control design. Several controllers are tested, all of which were capable of stabilizing the unstable limit cycles of ornithopter flight. Among these controllers: proportional-derivative controller; continuous-time state feedback linear quadratic regulator; state feedback periodic, discrete-time, time-varying, linear quadratic regulator; and sensor feedback, periodic, discrete-time, time-varying linear quadratic Gaussian regulator.