Modeling and control of convertible Micro Air Vehicles

Convertible UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) associate the capacities of stationary flight, like helicopters, and efficient cruising flight, like airplanes. This duality is usually achieved by a mechanical design that combines several propellers and wings. A large variety of such combinations have been proposed, especially after the Second World War. Thanks to electronic miniaturization, recent years have seen a revival of the research on this topic through convertible MAVs (Micro Air Vehicles). This paper provides an overview of existing structures and associated modeling and feedback control issues.