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  1. Motion planning for aerial dynamic grasping

    The goal of this master thesis project is to conceive and develop a motion planning algorithm that is able to generate dynamic grasping trajectories for underactuated aerial systems. The dynamic grasping problem is completely different and much more challenging than its static counterpart. The motion-planning algorithm has to take into account the dynamic constraints of the system (e.g., underactuation, thruster saturations) and environment constraints (e.g., presence of obstacles). The planner has to generate motions that do not require the robot to stop while grasping.

  2. Motion planning for tethered aerial systems

    The goal of this master thesis project is to propose and develop a motion planning algorithm that is able to generate trajectories for single and multi-robot aerial systems whose motion is constrained by tethers. The motion-planning algorithm has to take into account the dynamic constraints of the system (e.g., underactuation, thruster saturations, maximum/minimum cable tensions) and environment constraints (e.g., presence of obstacles). A major novelty of the thesis will be the tight combination of motion planning and control methodologies.

  3. Highly precise manipulation from arbitrary aerial vehicles

    The goal of this master thesis project is to propose and develop solutions for high precision control of the end-effector in aerial manipulation systems. A new kind of an aerial manipulator is needed for high precise aerial manipulation in a sub-millimeter area. Therefore the following shall be investigated and developed:
    • Conception of a multi-stage manipulator operating at different scales/regimes
    • A robust control scheme for the aerial manipulator in the interaction scenarios
    • Development of a prototype and showcase of the experimental setup

  4. Control of tethered aerial vehicles for takeoff and landing on non-canonical surfaces

    The goal of this master thesis project is to propose and develop possible novel automatic control solutions to the problem of aerial vehicles landing on tilted surfaces or moving platforms. Therefore the following points shall be investigated and developed:
    • Nonlinear modeling of the system: aerial robot+winch+landing/takeoff surface
    • Robust or hybrid nonlinear control scheme in the presence of unknown ground or moving platforms for the landing
    • Development of a prototype and showcase of the experimental setup

  5. Mechanical design and construction of a lightweight hexarotor with tilted propellers

    The goal of the project is to build a new kind of hexarotor platform (i.e., a multi-rotor with 6 propellers) in which the propeller orientations can be changed in a pre-flight set up phase. The tilting of the propellers makes the system fully actuated, i.e., allows to apply a 6-dof wrench to the platform, thus granting an independent regulation of the position and orientation in a certain range.

  6. Cooperative aerial-ground manipulation

    The goal of this master thesis project is to develop cooperative control methods that allow a group of grounded manipulators to act with aerial robots in order to manipulate large and oddly shaped objects in a full 3D environment. The use of both rigid and flexible tools (such as cables) shall be considered. A major investigation point is to properly manage at the control allocation level the underactuation of the flying robots and the redundancy of the whole system.

  7. Design/Control of Aerial Robots for Stage Dance Performances

    In 2017, an artistic dancing creation named “Phoenix” will comprise 3 dancers on the stage, video mapping, and aerial robots. There will be a fleet of at least five aerial robots navigating according to visual tags. Each aerial robot will embed its own controller inside a low-cost computer. The goals will be given via Wi-Fi by a global computer used to pilot the fleet.

    The project opens two internship subjects:

  8. Energy-Efficient Trajectory Generation for Battery-Powered Rotary-Wing UAVs

    Motivation: The last decade has seen a dramatic diffusion of battery-powered rotary-wing micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, a.k.a. MAVs). Their low price, maneuverability and small launch-and-landing footprint has made them extremely popular, but their aerodynamics have disadvantages, such as the relatively poor energy efficiency, that divides multi-rotor UAVs from conventional helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. The poor capacity of existing lithium-ion polymer (LiPo) batteries is another issue, typically limiting the flight endurance to 15 to 30 minutes.

  9. Design of an Embedded Arm for Aerial Hooking

    The goal of this master thesis project is to design and develop a mechatronic solution for the implementation of an aerial vehicle equipped with a rotating arm, and capable of hooking at a horizontal ladder. Two main parts of the system shall be investigated and developed:
    ∞ The actuated joint between the aerial vehicle and the attached arm
    ∞ The end effector of the arm, able to hook/grasp an bar and rotate around it
    The following approach will be employed to do so:
    ∞ Review of the possible solutions
    ∞ Optimization of a parametric design

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