Systems and methods for dynamics, modeling, simulation and control of mid-flight coupling of quadrotors

1. A system for controlling a plurality of rotorcrafts, comprising:

a first controller implemented by a processor;

a first rotorcraft in operative communication with the first controller, the first rotorcraft including a plurality of first coupling points;

a second rotorcraft, the second rotorcraft comprising a plurality of second coupling points, the second coupling points configured to temporarily engage with the first coupling points; and

a joint controller implemented by the processor for navigating the first rotorcraft and the second rotorcraft;

wherein the first rotorcraft is operable to assume a coupled configuration with the second rotorcraft by utilizing the first controller to modify an altitude and coordinates associated with yaw, pitch and roll angles of the first quadrotor relative to the second rotorcraft and adjoin the first coupling points with the second coupling points; and

wherein in the coupled configuration, gains of the joint controller are scheduled such that the gains are set to a first setting immediately following the assumption of the coupled configuration and the gains are subsequently modified to a second setting.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gains of the second setting are greater than the gains of the first setting, and changes to the gains define a gain scheduling to accommodate stabilization of the first rotorcraft and the second rotorcraft while assuming the coupled configuration.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is mounted to a portion of the first rotorcraft such that the first controller defines an onboard controller.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first controller is implemented to:

construct a first control loop to compute a force for adjusting translational acceleration and positioning of the first rotorcraft along an inertial Z-axis at a predetermined location proximate the second rotorcraft, and

construct a second control loop for determining a plurality of moments for adjusting angles associated with yaw, pitch and roll of the first rotorcraft to orient the first rotorcraft in a predetermined position over the second rotorcraft; and

wherein the force and plurality of moments are utilized to configure an angular velocity of each of a plurality of motors associated with the first rotorcraft.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein upon assuming the coupled configuration between the first rotorcraft and the second rotorcraft, the joint controller assumes responsibility for a position and a velocity of the first rotorcraft and the second rotorcraft in the coupled configuration.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein derivative control values on position are set to a first value greater than a set of proportional gain values in order to provide adequate dampening to the system.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein upon motion of the first rotorcraft and the second rotorcraft in the coupled configuration being initiated towards an intended target, the proportional gain values and derivative control values are increased to provide a faster response time.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first coupling points and the plurality of second coupling points comprise magnets.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first coupling points and the plurality of second coupling points comprise a plurality of respective ball and socket joints.