This seminar will look at approaches that use AI tools in the design loop to create more capable aerial systems. With examples from aerial robotics, we will discuss the tight interaction between vehicle design and the resulting system’s autonomy. We will do this by considering three specific examples/applications.
The first application considers the design of a system capable of lifting payloads, and specifically searches over possible designs comparing their sensitivity to disturbances. This allows the designer to search for the most robust aircraft design without them needing to explicitly design a feedback controller for each candidate design.
The second application considers a design challenge of creating a system that is very robust to wind disturbances in hover, and specifically exploits angular momentum to achieve this robustness. We derive the dynamics and tradeoffs for such a system, and present experimental validation.
The last example considers the operation of multiple aircraft in close proximity, and how they may be controlled to minimize mutual interference. This is motivated by the problem of in-air battery recharging, requiring vehicles to dock mid-flight. We consider two approaches to solving this problem — either using first principles models, or using learning-based controllers.
Mark Mueller leads the High Performance Robotics Laboratory (HiPeRLab), where research focuses on design and autonomy of aircraft. The group has expertise in building and experimentally evaluating aerial robotics. Methods of interest include optimal and robust control, as well as learning-based methods. Mueller received a B.Eng. (Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering) from the University of Pretoria, and then M.Sc. and Dr.Sc. both from ETH Zurich (Switzerland). Mueller is lead inventor on multiple commercially used patents, and currently serves as Associate Faculty Director of Aerospace Programs at Berkeley.
Relevant Expertise:
- Learning Highly Adaptive Controllers for Autonomous Aircraft: Creating learning-based systems to predict and execute emergency maneuvers for autonomous operations, including emergency landings and fault tolerance
- Estimation and planning: Algorithms for state estimation, including GPS-denied autonomy, with a focus on both robustness/safety, as well as performance
Attendees are invited to join the session in person at NASA Ames Research Center, Building N210, Room 115 (a NASA badge is required) or online:
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Meeting ID: 219 053 318 025 74
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About Air Time by NAMS-2
Air Time is a series of seminars on advanced aviation hosted by Crown Innovations, Inc., in collaboration with the University of California’s CITRIS and the Banatao Institute. The seminars feature leading experts on cutting-edge research who share interesting ideas on pertinent topics and innovative methodologies. Air Time speakers include subject matter experts from UC Berkeley, Merced, Davis, and Santa Cruz. The seminars take place weekly.
Crown Innovations, Inc. is the prime contractor for the NASA Academic Mission Services 2 (NAMS-2) contract. Contact the program management at nams2pmo@crownci.com for more information or to arrange a collaboration in your field.