ABSTRACT:

Due to their mechanical simplicity, multirotor air vehicles are being increasingly used for numerous applications. However the aircraft require feedback for stable flight, 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.

BIOGRAPHY:

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.