MIT researchers have designed a seminal drone in the field of creating unmanned vehicles that can perform acrobatic movements and complex maneuvers thanks to specially developed algorithms.

Engineers named the new drone Tailsitter; this is a fixed-wing drone that lands and takes off vertically, hovering above its tail. When necessary, the drone continues its flight by leaning forward. It is much faster and more efficient than standard quadcopter drones can do.

The more complex the aerobatic figures, the more difficult it is to control such a drone. To solve this challenge, MIT engineers have developed new algorithms that can generate and manage a drone in such a way that it performs fast, smooth, aerobatic flight paths.

Engineers state that, thanks to their proprietary algorithms, the unprecedented maneuverability and versatility of future drones opens up to the drone industry. Supported in part by the US Army Research Administration, the project demonstrates that Tailsitter drones can perform the most complex maneuvers that no other drone has before: flying upside down or sideways.

The researchers used a technical feature known as differential flatness. This method allows you to use a simple math function to quickly check whether the trajectory required by Tailsitter can be applied. This approach removes many complex system dynamics and plans the drone’s trajectory as a mathematical curve in space. The algorithm then uses the differential roughness to quickly control the trajectory. If all is well, the algorithm is reference based and the drone makes a turn.

The next step for the researchers is to extend their algorithm for fully autonomous flight outdoors, taking into account wind and other environmental conditions. Source