Research Summary

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, are powerful tools but come with a key limitation — they can only stay in the air for a short time due to high energy consumption. My research focuses on finding smarter ways to make quadrotor drones more energy-efficient and extend their flight time. To tackle this, my research group and I have developed methods that help drones obtain more efficient paths while also tuning how they are controlled during flight. In simple terms, we find energy optimal paths and design controllers to help follow that path with minimal energy by optimizing both aspects side-by-side. Through simulations, we have found that our approach can reduce energy usage by up to 70% compared to conventional planning and control methods. This can significantly improve the practical usability of drones in real-world applications.