Feasibility of a Distributed Flight Array

Abstract

This paper introduces the Distributed Flight Array (DFA) which is being developed at ETH Zurich. This multi-rotor platform consists of autonomous rotor modules that are able to drive, dock with their peers, and fly in a coordinated fashion. These modules are organized as distributed computational units with minimal sensory input. This is a complex system that is rich in dynamics with much room to explore various strategies of distributed estimation and control. In this paper, a simple distributed strategy for hover control is presented and feasibility of the DFA is demonstrated.