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Onboard quadrocopter failsafe: flight after actuator failure

Mark Mueller · 94.4K views · 2014-03-03 · 1:04

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Overview

ETH Zurich researchers demonstrate a quadrocopter that keeps flying stably after losing a motor and propeller entirely, with the algorithm running onboard while a pilot flies it.

On Hacker News

It is the standard citation in drone and eVTOL threads for the claim that multirotors can survive a failed rotor with the right control algorithm.

Recommended by 1 HN people across 1 months · HN mentions 2014–2019

Topics

RoboticsAviation & aerospace engineering
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dronescontrol systemsquadrotorfailsafeeth zurich

What people said

raynr · 2019-08 · Recommendation

As an additional potential recovery mode: ETH Zurich's Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control [0] has done amazing work on quadcopter recovery after rotor control loss [1] (I believe they are down to controlled flight with only one or two rotors left, but I cannot find the link right now). I've been waiting for this to filter into the real world but have yet to see it. [0] [LINK] [1] [VIDEO]

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mikepurvis · 2019-08 · Reference

This isn't quite true. Cheap drones may not have this capability, but controlled, safe landings of quadrotors with a single failed motor have been demonstrated, see this ETH Zurich video from 2014: [VIDEO] Obviously there are still other single points of failure such as the battery or controller, but at this point there's no excuse for crash landing a commercial drone just because a single motor (or rotor) has failed.

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SolarNet · 2018-01 · Reference

Actually that's a benefit of the quad-copter design. It can sacrifice an axis of control in that situation (a "minor" one, like rotation about the gravity vector). In this case it would likely make the passengers sick, but it would still be able to fly in a controllable fashion. See this video: [VIDEO]

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