Special issue on Aerial Robotics and the Quadrotor Platform

A special issue of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine

Introduction

Aerial robotics is a growing field with tremendous civil and military applications. Potential applications include surveying and maintenance tasks, aerial transportation and manipulation, search and rescue, and surveillance. The challenges associated with tackling robotics tasks in complex, three-dimensional, indoor and outdoor environments brings into focus some of the limitations of accepted solutions to classical robotics problems in sensing, planning, localisation and mapping. Moreover, the fundamental weight and size limitations of flying vehicles pose challenges in engineering design as well as efficiency of sensing paradigms and control and estimation algorithms. Quadrotor aerial vehicles are one of the most flexible and adaptable platforms for undertaking aerial research. In the same way that the unicycle configured wheeled robot was the testing ground of much of the fundamental work in robotic vehicle mobility throughout the 90s, the quadrotor platform is set to be a fundamental research platform for aerial robotics research in the next five years. This special issue will consist of papers describing research on component technologies and papers addressing systems design and technological challenges in aerial robotics and in respect to the quadrotor platform in particular. The goal of the special issue is to provide platform for research into aerial robotics, using the quadrotor platform in particular, into the near to medium future.

Scope, description and more information

Magazine style articles are sought on all aspects of aerial robotics associated with small scale robots interacting in complex three dimensional environments. Articles concerning the quadrotor platform are of particular interest, however, general work in the field of aerial robotics is also sought. Articles that focus on specific flight characteristics of non-quadrotor aerial vehicles without addressing a clear general principle of relevance to aerial robotics are beyond the scope of the issue. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to)

Aerodynamic modelling and platform design of quadrotors, including; vehicle dynamics, physical construction, motors and rotors, power systems, flight limitations, etc.
Avionics and base stations, including; hardware design and implementation, firmware, software systems architecture, communications, etc.
Proprioceptive sensor suites including, GPS, IMU, dynamic and static pressure, etc, and all associated state estimation.

Exteroreceptive sensing paradigms, including; vision, structured light, laser, acoustic, etc, and all associated signal processing algorithms.

Control algorithms, including; trajectory planning, control architecture, image based visual servo control, limits of control, etc.

Simultaneous mapping and localisation, including; general localisation algorithms, environment estimation, structure from motion,

Planning and decision processes, including; search strategies, sensing models, decision models, etc.

Multi-vehicle coordination, including; formation flight, multi-vehicle control, synchronisation, etc.

To submit a paper, go here

Important dates
Call for papers	November 02, 2011
Deadline for paper submission	January 22, 2012
First review	April 01, 2012
Final review	May 01, 2012
Publication	September 2012

Guest editors

Vijay Kumar

Guest editor

	University of Pennsylvania, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics
	Philadelphia (PA), United States
	+1 215 898 8241
	+1 215 573 6334		http://www.seas.upenn.edu/%7Ekumar/
	kumar@cis.upenn.edu