The key research area Flying Robots covers several domains of the DLR Robotics and Mechatronics Center – Aeronautics, Space, Robotics, and Optical Information Systems – in order to exploit synergies in the development of robotics technologies for autonomous flying platforms. The spectrum of our work ranges from low-level control and sensor data processing to mission planning and execution.

Aerial Manipulation Researchers within the DLR Flying Robots group have integrated a light-weight industrial robot arm with seven degrees of freedom into an autonomous double-rotor helicopter platform. The system is intended for automatic deployment and maintenance of mobile service robots with magnetic wheels, which are used for pipeline inspection. Full article

High-Altitude Platforms In the near future, high-altitude platforms could extend application fields presently covered by satellites and are therefore often named HAPS, which stands for high-altitude pseudo satellites. Possible applications range from establishing communication networks to long-term recording of weather and environmental data. Full article

Landing on Mobile Platforms Weight is crucial for long-duration flights of high-altitude platforms. Without the need for a landing gear, the weight of an aerial vehicle can be significantly reduced, which results in extended range and enhanced performance. Full article

Takeoff and Landing of VTOL UAVs on a Moving Platform Full article

Vision Guided Navigation of UAVs The DLR Flying Robots group is working on vision and sensor fusion algorithms for robust and highly accurate state estimation as well as for autonomous navigation. Full article

Mission Planning and Validation At the moment, UAVs are able of carrying out their pre-planned mission. For this reason, the analysis of the execution plans in terms of their correctness and errorless is imperative. Full article

Unmanned Airships Due to static lift and low energy consumption, lighter than air UAVs offer great potential for long-endurance missions. Members of the DLR Flying Robots group are working on modeling and control of airships used for establishing long-range communication relays. Full article

Dr. Ing. Konstantin Kondak German Aerospace Center Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, Mechatronic Systems Oberpfaffenhofen-Weßling Tel.: +49 8153 28-1127 Fax: +49 8153 28-1134