Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Deploying a single Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or a fleet of UAVs to accomplish a given task without any human intervention might seem as an utopian idea. We are not there yet, but the research in this field has gone quiet far and the utopian idea might become reality one day. Several technical and practical problems stood on the way of this objective for several years some of which have been successfully solved thanks to the efforts of the research community in this field.During the course of this research program, we will aim to contribute further in this field by addressing some crucial issues considered as the Achilles' heels in UAVs applications. Specifically, we will tackle some of the most important and challenging open problems related to the attitude estimation, autonomous navigation and motion coordination of Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) UAVs.The expected high-quality theoretical research, supported by practical experiments, will increase the state of the knowledge in modern control and aerospace engineering, and open new avenues in UAVs applications. It will also reinforce Canada's reputation among the leading nations in research and innovation, and provide opportunities for excellent training of highly-qualified professionals in challenging and promising research fields.