The seminar is free to attend but registration is required – please email the organizers to receive an invitation

Abstract
Due to their mechanical simplicity, multirotor air vehicles are being increasingly used for numerous
applications. However the aircraft require feedback for stable light, hence there are many
interesting control problems that require solutions. This presentation will consider several of these,
in particular the problem of operating in gusty conditions. The flight dynamics and control is
explored by analysis of a planar birotor aircraft, in particular, the effect of rotor tilt on the stability
and zero-location. It is shown that a significant improvement in the gust rejection properties of the
vehicle can be obtained by judicious vehicle design. The trade-off and implications of this
observation will be explored.

Bio
Dr James Whidborne is a Reader in Control Systems and the Head of the Dynamics, Simulation and
Control (DSC) research group in the Centre for Aeronautics at Cranfield University. He received his
bachelors from Cambridge University and his masters and doctorate from the University of
Manchester. Following a post-doctoral position at Leicester University he spent 10 years at Kings
College London, moving to Cranfield in 2004. He has published over 200 fully refereed papers, and
has authored or edited three research monographs mostly in the area of advanced control. His
research interests include flight control, control of UAVs, flow control, robust multi-objective control
design as well as control problems in oil drilling.