Autonomous Navigation Systems Design for VTOL-UAVs

在没有任何人为干预的情况下，部署一架无人机或一支无人机机队来完成给定的任务似乎是一个乌托邦的想法。我们还没有做到这一点，但这一领域的研究已经悄无声息地走了很远，乌托邦的想法有一天可能会成为现实。几年来，一些技术和实际问题一直困扰着这一目标，其中一些问题在这一领域的研究社区的努力下已经得到了成功的解决。在这一研究计划的过程中，我们将致力于通过解决一些被认为是无人机应用中致命弱点的关键问题，在这一领域做出进一步的贡献。具体地说，我们将解决与垂直起降(VTOL)无人机的姿态估计、自主导航和运动协调有关的一些最重要和最具挑战性的开放问题。期望高质量的理论研究和实践实验的支持，将增加现代控制和航空航天工程的知识水平，并为无人机的应用开辟新的途径。它还将加强加拿大在研究和创新领域的领先国家的声誉，并为在具有挑战性和前景的研究领域培养高素质的专业人员提供机会。

Deploying a single Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or a fleet of UAVs to accomplish a given task without any human intervention might seem as an utopian idea. We are not there yet, but the research in this field has gone quiet far and the utopian idea might become reality one day. Several technical and practical problems stood on the way of this objective for several years some of which have been successfully solved thanks to the efforts of the research community in this field.During the course of this research program, we will aim to contribute further in this field by addressing some crucial issues considered as the Achilles' heels in UAVs applications. Specifically, we will tackle some of the most important and challenging open problems related to the attitude estimation, autonomous navigation and motion coordination of Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) UAVs.The expected high-quality theoretical research, supported by practical experiments, will increase the state of the knowledge in modern control and aerospace engineering, and open new avenues in UAVs applications. It will also reinforce Canada's reputation among the leading nations in research and innovation, and provide opportunities for excellent training of highly-qualified professionals in challenging and promising research fields.