The Stanford testbed of autonomous rotorcraft for multi agent control (STARMAC)

Abstract

As an alternative to cumbersome aerial vehicles with considerable maintenance requirements and flight envelope restrictions, the X4 flyer is chosen as the basis for the Stanford testbed of autonomous rotorcraft for multi-agent control (STARMAC). This paper outlines the design and development of a miniature autonomous waypoint tracker flight control system, and the creation of a multi-vehicle platform for experimentation and validation of multi-agent control algorithms. This testbed development paves the way for real-world implementation of recent work in the fields of autonomous collision and obstacle avoidance, task assignment formation flight, using both centralized and decentralized techniques.