According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for operating a multicopter experiencing a failure during flight, the multicopter comprising a body, and at least four effectors attached to the body, each operable to produce both a torque and a thrust force which can cause the multicopter to fly when not experiencing said failure. The method may comprise the step of identifying a failure wherein the failure affects the torque and/or thrust force produced by an effector, and in response to identifying a failure carrying out the following steps, (1) computing an estimate of the orientation of a primary axis of said body with respect to a predefined reference frame, wherein said primary axis is an axis about which said multicopter rotates when flying, (2) computing an estimate of the angular velocity of said multicopter, (3) controlling one or more of said at least four effectors based on said estimate of the orientation of the primary axis of said body with respect to said predefined reference frame and said estimate of the angular velocity of the multicopter. The step of controlling one or more of said at least four effectors may be performed such that (a) said one or more effectors collectively produce a torque along said primary axis and a torque perpendicular to said primary axis, wherein (i) the torque along said primary axis causes said multicopter to rotate about said primary axis, and (ii) the torque perpendicular to said primary axis causes said multicopter to move such that the orientation of said primary axis converges to a target orientation with respect to said predefined reference frame, and (b) such that said one or more effectors individually produce a thrust force along said primary axis.


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    Title :

    Controlled flight of a multicopter experiencing a failure affecting an effector


    Contributors:

    Publication date :

    2020-02-18


    Type of media :

    Patent


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English


    Classification :

    IPC:    G05D SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES , Systeme zum Steuern oder Regeln nichtelektrischer veränderlicher Größen / B64C AEROPLANES , Flugzeuge / B64D Ausrüstung für Flugzeuge , EQUIPMENT FOR FITTING IN OR TO AIRCRAFT / G06F ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING , Elektrische digitale Datenverarbeitung



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    CONTROLLED FLIGHT OF A MULTICOPTER EXPERIENCING A FAILURE AFFECTING AN EFFECTOR

    MUELLER MARK W / LUPASHIN SERGEI / D'ANDREA RAFFAELLO et al. | European Patent Office | 2018

    Free access

    Controlled flight of a multicopter experiencing a failure affecting an effector

    MUELLER MARK W / LUPASHIN SERGEI / D'ANDREA RAFFAELLO et al. | European Patent Office | 2019

    Free access

    CONTROLLED FLIGHT OF A MULTICOPTER EXPERIENCING A FAILURE AFFECTING AN EFFECTOR

    MUELLER MARK W / LUPASHIN SERGEI / D'ANDREA RAFFAELLO et al. | European Patent Office | 2020

    Free access