Control of an unconventional VTOL UAV for search and rescue operations within confined spaces based on the MARC control architecture

This paper presents a Modular Architecture for Robotic Control (MARC) for unconventional Unmanned Vehicle Systems (UVS) with search and rescue applications. The MARC architecture is able to produce complex UVS behaviors with the interaction of multiple independent modular controllers, which are extremely difficult or impossible to execute via traditional control methodologies. This paper presents the implementation of the proposed architecture on a Double-Ducted Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) vehicle, capable of performing complex maneuvers. The vehicle is designed specifically for flight within confined spaces. This paper also presents the results of the implementation showing that unconventional UVS can be used as optimal platforms for indoor flight executing diverse tasks such as obstacle avoidance and exploration. The results show that the proposed approach enables the test vehicle to fully use its flight characteristics which incorporate complex control in six Degrees of Freedom (DOF) for rapid navigation and "aggressive" maneuvers allowing large vehicular angles of attack. The results showcase the potential for the MARC control system to optimize the performance of mobile robotics, specifically unconventional vehicles.