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In this paper, we explore a novel multi-mode hybrid Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). We combine a tailless fixed-wing with a dual-wing monocopter such that the craft’s propulsion systems and aerodynamic surfaces are fully utilized in both a horizontal cruising mode and a vertical hovering mode. This maximizes the structural efficiency across the flight envelope, thereby reducing drag and unused mass while airborne in either flight mode. This UAV is also designed such that the transition between the two flight modes can be executed in mid-air, using only its existing flight actuators and sensors — there are no transition specific actuators. Using two prototypes, the foundational design and control of the system is established; the first explores the hovering mode characteristics of the unique dual-wing monocopter configuration, while the second explores the full multi-mode capabilities of the combined platform. In addition to analytical simulations, the prototypes are experimentally evaluated and assessed to demonstrate the feasibility, viability and potential of this multi-mode aerial robot design.

This paper presents a complete system for autonomous drone racing combining image recognition, depth mapping, visual-inertial odometry (VIO), and collision-free trajectory planning. The proposed system focuses on simple, robust, and computationally efficient techniques to enable onboard hardware applications. A loosely coupled visual-inertial localization system is devised, to ensure real-time and robust localization. A lightweight CPU-based detection module is designed, which consists of autonomous mapping and gate detection components. We also introduce a robust and efficient trajectory planner to generate smooth and collision-free trajectories in real-time. The proposed methods are tested extensively through benchmark comparisons and challenging indoor flights, while simulation results show the validness and effectiveness of our proposed system. We release our implementation as an open-source ROS-package.

Flying robots popularly known as drones or UAVs are emerging technologies of the current era. A significant amount of research work has been undertaken in this area in the last few years. Considering the current scenario where aerial vehicles are taking a major part of the market it is important to have an effective and robust design of flying robots. This paper aims to examine the categories of flying robots based on the features that include a range from petite to large and its body structure, wing designs, tail design, propulsion system, and gripper mechanisms along with the associated materials and manufacturing techniques. Again the work is intended to review the respective challenges faced by each category. Mostly the challenges faced by flying robots are design challenges, material selection, and fabrication challenges which are discussed in the paper. In this paper, we have summarized various designs of flying robots developed to date as well as we have focused on major features to be taken care of while designing flying robots. This paper has tried to focus on different design aspects and challenges faced by flying robots so that further research can be carried out to develop effective flying robots in the future.