California Institute of Technology

Ellande Tang

Soon-Jo Chung

Patrick Spieler

Xichen Shi

Elena Sorina Lupu

Matthew J Anderson

An air transport vehicle that capitalizes on the strengths and complexities of a fixed and rotary winged aircraft. The air transport vehicle comprises a body aerodynamically designed to avoid substantial drag. The vehicle has a plurality of rotors configured to generate vertical thrust with a rear rotor configured to generate forward thrust. Additionally, each of the rotors are connected to the fixed wing elements and the fixed wing is positioned about the center of mass of the fuselage. Furthermore, each of the rotors are positioned at a fixed tilt angle such that the stability of the vehicle is maintained in a number of different flight configurations.

Autonomous multi-purpose heavy-lift VTOL

A fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle configured with a composite adaptive nonlinear tracking controller that utilizes a real-time accurate estimation of the complex aerodynamic forces surrounding the wing(s) and rotors in order to achieve a high performance flight. The method employs online adaptation of force models, and generates accurate estimation for wing and rotor forces in real-time based on information from a three-dimensional airflow sensor. The novel three-dimensional airflow sensor illustrates improved velocity tracking and force prediction during the transition stage from hover to forward flight.

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Pasadena, CA, United States of America

Ellande Tang