151-0851-00L  Unmanned Aerial Systems

SemesterAutumn Semester 2014
LecturersS. Leutenegger, S.  Lynen, K. Rudin, R. Siegwart
Periodicityyearly recurring course
Language of instructionEnglish


AbstractWe will provide an overview on the field of small Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The course addresses design, modeling, control, as well as perception and navigation of unmanned airplanes and rotorcraft.
ObjectiveThe objective of the course is to provide the background knowledge for the design of simple small UAS', as well as to provide the necessary tools to operate them in indoor or outdoor environments applying state-of-the-art navigation and control algorithms.
ContentThe course consists of three parts: first, the basics of aerodynamics and flight mechanics of fixed wing aircraft are treated, along with related design and control concepts. The second part covers different helicopter types, with a focus on quadrotors and the coaxial configuration. Finally, we enter into the field of localization, mapping and navigation both outdoors as well as indoors. As an example of particular importance, we address state estimation involving computer vision. We treat both recursive estimation techniques as well as nonlinear batch-optimization. Case studies on the three main topics provide the link to real applications and to the state of the art in UAS research.
Prerequisites / NoticeThe contents of the following ETH Bachelor lectures or equivalent are assumed to be known: Fluid Dynamics I and II, Mechanics III, Control Systems I and II