Modeling and control of an ornithopter for diving

This paper details a method for identifying a set of piece-wise affine linear models that can be used for control design for flapping-winged flight. The paper focuses on diving maneuvers as the application for these models. The flight conditions during the dive are segmented into separate dynamically similar regions, and least-squares is used to estimate affine linear models for each modeling region. These models are used to compute the reachability sets that satisfy recovery conditions for safe diving. The point within the dive to begin recovery was determined by checking the current pose for inclusion in the backward reachable set. Using this control method, 2.2 meter dives were achieved at a success rate of 60 percent. The data-driven automatic modeling techniques and controller design processes can be extended to additional flight maneuvers, provided sufficient previous data have been collected for model generation of those maneuvers.