Drone Control Validation through Virtual Prototyping

Application deadline: Feb 16, 2024

This internship is open to students registered in a Bachelor's degree program. The plan is to fund this internship with the Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) or the Concordia Undergraduate Student Research Award (CUSRA).

The project will begin the week of April 29th, 2024. The duration is 16 consecutive weeks on a full-time basis (35 hours per week) at the High Reliability Aerospace Design Laboratory (HiRAD). The work period does not include provisions for holidays, except statutory holidays. We are looking for students not enrolled in a course during the duration of the internship.

Internship Description

The HiRAD lab specializes in advancing the design of safety-critical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by creating new methodologies and tools. Recent research has demonstrated the possibility of improving UAV reliability control through a physics- based approach [1–3]. Figure 1 illustrates the virtual and physical prototypes employed as case studies in this research.

Figure 1. HARV - Virtual (left) and Physical (right) Prototypes

The objectives of this internship include:

1. Enhance the existing classical control laws of the virtual prototype's simulation model to improve its performance and stability.
2. Integrate and evaluate the new reliability models formulated by the Physics- Based Reliability Modelling team.
3. Calibrate and verify the virtual prototype using ground and flight test data supplied by the Physical Prototyping team.

The main steps are as follows:

1. Familiarization with prior research and the virtual prototype developed in Matlab-Simulink using Simscape.
2. Improvement of the current classical control laws.
3. Integration and tecting of the newly developed reliability models.
4. Calibration and validation of the virtual prototype, comparing it with test data from the physical prototype.
5. Reporting.

References

[1] Dimitri L, Liscouët J. Optimizing Flight Control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles with Physics-Based Reliability Models. In: 2023 IEEE International Conference on Prognostics and Health Management (ICPHM). 2023, pp. 265–273.

[2] Liscouët J, Uwantare I, Remoundos A, et al. Validation of Reliability-based Flight Control Optimization for UAVs. In: AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum. Orlando, FL: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, p. AIAA 2024-0341.

[3] Nnamdi-Nwosu I, Liscouët J. Control Allocation with Physics-Based Reliability Models for Multirotor UAVs. In: AIAA SCITECH 2023 Forum. National Harbor, MD & Online: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, p. AIAA 2023-2371.

Qualifications & Skills

• Good knowledge and experience with Matlab-Simulink.
• Good knowledge of aerospace and control engineering.
• Knowledge of reliability engineering is a plus.
• Interest in drone technology.
• Good writing skills.
• Professionalism.

How to apply

Qualified and highly motivated candidates are invited to send their application per email to jonathan.liscouet@concordia.ca using the subject " Application: Physical Prototyping and Flight Testing for Control Method Validation (USRA/CUSRA)" with the following elements:
1. Brief email with your motivation and relevant experience
2. Clarify if you are a candidate for either USRA or CUSRA
3. Up-to-date transcript
4. Up-to-date CV

Undergraduate Student Research Award (CUSRA)

Values of awards: $8,120 (NSERC) + $1,500 (FRQNT, competition) + $2,500 (CIADI, competition)
Prerequisite: Be a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada as of February 1st 2024. Be registered in a Bachelor’s degree. Have a Cumulative GPA of at least 3.00 (“B” average).

Additional information:

Concordia Undergraduate Student Resarch Award (CUSRA)

Values of awards: $8,120 (GCS) + $2,500 (CIADI, competition)

Prerequisite: Canadian, Permanent resident or International Concordia undergraduate students; Completed at least 30 credits in the program and a minimum 3.3 CGPA is required at the time of application.

Additional information:
• (CUSRA) https://www.concordia.ca/research/students-and-postdocs/undergraduate-opportunities/cusra.html

Concordia Institute of Aerospace Design and Innovation

Concordia Institute of Aerospace Design and Innovation

Drone Control Validation through Virtual Prototyping