IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2010 - 56

Experimental Evaluation of
Multirobot Aerial Control Algorithms

BY NATHAN MICHAEL,
DANIEL MELLINGER,
QUENTIN LINDSEY,
AND VIJAY KUMAR
© LUSHPIX

I

n the last five years, advances in materials, electronics, sensors,
and batteries have fueled a growth in the development of
microunmanned aerial vehicles (MAVs) that are between 0.1
and 0.5 m in length and 0.1-0.5 kg in mass [1]. A few groups
have built and analyzed MAVs in the 10-cm range [2], [3].
One of the smallest MAV is the Picoflyer with a 60-mm propellor diameter and a mass of 3.3 g [4]. Platforms in the 50-cm
range are more prevalent with several groups having built and
flown systems of this size [5]-[7]. In fact, there are several

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MRA.2010.937855

56

IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine

commercially available radiocontrolled (RC) helicopters and
research-grade helicopters in this size range [8].
Test beds are especially important for multirobot research
with MAVs, as they are often agile and are influenced by the
dynamics of the environment and coupled to the performance
of the other vehicles in complex and hard-to-predict ways.
Several groups have outdoor multi-UAV test beds [9], [10] as
well as indoor multiquadrotor environments [11]. The Flying
Machine Arena at ETH Zurich is impressive because of its large
size ð10 3 10 3 10 m3 Þ with protective netting enclosing the
workspace, enabling impressive aerial aerobatics research [12].

1070-9932/10/$26.00ª2010 IEEE

SEPTEMBER 2010



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