An autonomous single-actuator UAV with omnidirectional field of view, high agility, and collision resistance

Abstract

A single-actuator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) named PULSAR II is driven by one motor and achieves three-dimensional maneuverability and natural self-rotation. This motion enables an omnidirectional field of view (FoV) for light detection and ranging (LiDAR), thereby eliminating unobserved areas. To enhance agility, we first built an accurate propulsion model using a data-driven method and compensated its nonlinearities. Then, we designed model predictive controller on the S² manifold for minimal parameterization and aggressive tracking performance. We also derived the UAV’s differential flatness to simplify trajectory optimization. To ensure collision resistance, we designed a protective solid frame structure around the UAV and developed a disturbance observer to reject collision-induced disturbances in a fictional coordinate frame that decouples self-rotation, with parameters optimized by μ synthesis to address model uncertainty. By integrating all modules, we established an autonomous UAV system that demonstrated agile, robust, and fully autonomous flight in real-world environments.