Design of an adaptive 3-dimensional display enabled by a swarm of autonomous micro air vehicles

This thesis is motivated by the concept of a system consisting of a swarm of small, automatically controlled air vehicles, each carrying a colour-controlled light source (payload), capable of executing coordinated maneouvres for the purpose of entertainment or data visualization. It focuses on a number of issues associated with the implementation of such a system, and specifically on the development of a non-linear, robust controller with feed-forward compensation, designed for control of a quad-rotor helicopter in the presence of aerodynamic interference generated by other vehicles in swarm-like operational conditions. System requirements and driving factors are identified, and various types of overall system architectures as well as vehicle designs are considered. The vehicle prototyping process is described, with specific emphasis on electronic design and hardware integration. Several problems associated with the flight of numerous vehicles in close proximity are addressed. Simulation and laboratory testing is described and results are presented and interpreted. Finally, consideration is given to the future development of such a system, as well as possible large-scale implementations and commercial opportunities.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Mueller, Erich, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Emilio Frazzoli.

• Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/71461

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/71461