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Introduction

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Unmanned Rotorcraft Systems

Part of the book series: Advances in Industrial Control ((AIC))

Abstract

In this monograph, the authors aim to explore the research and development of fully functional miniature unmanned-aerial-vehicle (UAV) rotorcraft, which consist of a small-scale basic rotorcraft with all necessary accessories onboard and a ground station. The unmanned system is an integration of advanced technologies developed in the communications, computing, and control areas. It is an excellent test bed for testing and implementing modern control techniques. It is, however, a highly challenging process. The flight dynamics of small-scale rotorcraft such as a hobby helicopter is similar to its full-scale counterpart but owns some unique characteristics such as the utilization of a stabilizer bar, higher rotor stiffness, and yaw rate feedback control. Besides these, the strict limitation on payload also increases the difficulty in upgrading a small-scale rotorcraft to a UAV with full capacities. Based on its various characteristics and limitations, a lightweight but effective onboard avionic system with corresponding onboard/ground software should be carefully designed to realize the system identification and automatic flight requirements. These issues will be addressed in detail in this monograph. Research on utilizing the vision-based system for accomplishing ground target tracking and following, cooperative control, and flight formation of multiple unmanned rotorcraft is also highlighted.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Temasek Laboratories, National University of Singapore, T-Lab Building, 5A, Engineering Drive 1, Singapore, 117411, Singapore

    Guowei Cai

  2. Dept. Electrical & Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore, 117576, Singapore

    Ben M. Chen & Tong Heng Lee

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  1. Guowei Cai
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  2. Ben M. Chen
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  3. Tong Heng Lee
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Correspondence to Ben M. Chen .

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Cai, G., Chen, B.M., Lee, T.H. (2011). Introduction. In: Unmanned Rotorcraft Systems. Advances in Industrial Control. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-635-1_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-635-1_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-85729-634-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-85729-635-1

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