Givens, Matthew (University of Colorado Boulder), Coopmans, Calvin (Utah State University)

Exploring the Use of Reverse Thrust in a Dynamic UAS Landing Maneuver Using Kinodynamic RRT

Scheduled for presentation during the Regular Session "Path Planning IV" (ThA2), Thursday, September 3, 2020, 11:00−11:20, Kozani

2020 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), September 1-4, 2020 (Postponed from June 9-12, 2020), Athens, Greece

This information is tentative and subject to change. Compiled on April 25, 2024

Abstract

The concept of reversing the direction of the main propeller (and thereby the thrust) of an electric, fixed-wing unmanned aerial system (UAS) during landing maneuvers is examined in this paper. The physical performance of a propeller and motor combination is first tested using a custom thrust test bench. A two-dimensional simulation of a fixed-wing UAS is then created using a nonlinear dynamics model and the dynamics are used in a Rapidly-Exploring Random Tree (RRT) algorithm to search for feasible trajectories and their necessary control inputs. The possible usefulness of the reverse thrust maneuver is then demonstrated and shown in simulation with favorable results.