Dynamics and Control of UAVs in Unsteady Aerodynamics Conditions.

无人驾驶飞行器已经引起了机器人研究界的极大兴趣。与此同时，无人机商业市场在北美已经并将继续经历高增长，无人机的新应用迅速出现。其中一个应用是野外火灾监视，其中小型低成本空中平台可以提供有关火灾条件和进展的宝贵信息，因此可以作为地面人员的辅助工具。在这个项目中，我们探索使用自动滑翔机在野火上进行长时间飞行。滑翔机之所以被选择用于这项应用，是因为它们可以利用火上产生的丰富热量，使它们能够长时间停留在高空。研究重点将放在制导和控制算法的开发上，以使车辆能够在可能存在于野火的具有挑战性的天气条件下成功运行。该项目是麦吉尔大学已经资助的团队项目的自然延伸，该项目侧重于无人机在非定常气动条件下的建模和控制。来自瑞尔森大学（Ryerson University）的一位新成员加入了该团队，他在滑翔机的气动载荷建模、操作和飞行测试方面具有专业知识，扩大并加强了该团队在自主滑翔机方面的研究能力。该研究将包括开发在非定常空气动力学条件下运行的滑翔机的高保真模型，开发制导和控制策略，使其能够自主利用火上的热量，并进行初步飞行测试，以部分验证开发的自主能力。瑞尔森大学的一名博士生和麦吉尔大学的一名硕士生将通过NSERC-FRQNT补充项目获得资助，从事上述任务。增刊将为来自两个机构的研究小组就这一主题进行合作并探索两个小组之间的协同作用、共享设备和专业知识提供一个极好的机会。该项目的结果将与小型自主滑翔机在野火和其他情况下的长时间监视应用相关。

Unmanned aerial vehicles have been receiving a lot of interest in the robotics research community. In parallel, the UAV commercial market has and continues to undergo high growth in North America, with new applications of UAVs emerging rapidly. One such application is wild fire surveillance, where a small low-cost aerial platform can provide valuable information on the conditions and progression of the fire and, hence, serve as an assistive tool to personnel on the ground. In this project, we explore the use of an autonomous glider for long-duration flight over wild fires. Gliders were selected for this application because they can exploit the abundant thermals that occur over a fire to allow them to stay aloft for long periods. The research focus will be on the development of guidance and control algorithms to allow the vehicle operate successfully in the challenging weather conditions that are likely to exist over a wild fire. This project provides a natural extension of the already funded team project at McGill University, which focuses on modeling and control of UAVs subject to unsteady aerodynamic conditions. The addition of a new member to the team from Ryerson University with expertise on modeling of aerodynamic loads, operation and flight testing of gliders, expands and strengthens the team's capabilities for research on autonomous gliders. The research will involve developing a high-fidelity model of a glider operating in unsteady aerodynamic conditions, developing guidance and control strategies to allow it to autonomously exploit thermals over a fire, and conducting initial flight tests to partially validate the developed autonomous capabilities. One PhD student at Ryerson University and one Master's student at McGill will be funded through the NSERC-FRQNT supplement to work on the aforementioned tasks. The supplement will provide an excellent opportunity for the research groups from two institutions to collaborate on this topic and to explore synergies between the two groups, share equipment and expertise. The results of the project will be relevant to applications of small autonomous gliders for long-duration surveillance of wild fires and in other contexts.