Autonomous Vehicle Research 🚁

Georgia Tech Aerial Robotics and Experimental Autonomy Lab

During my master’s research, I led the development of a cUAS system by leveraging an autonomous drone to intercept and capture aerial vehicles. Current cUAS systems often face a critical operational trade-off: projectile-based capture methods introduces danger and risk missfire, while non-kinetic apporaches (e.g. jamming, electronic warfare) has an adverse effect on other equipment. As a result, I designed an aerial capture vehicle that would enable reliable aerial defense while posing a minimal risk to people or equipment.

Beyond the design, my work heavily emphasized experimental testing/validation through developmental flight test. I built dynamic simulations using MATLAB/Simulink and Gazebo to establish the baseline capabilities of the drone and tune cascading flight controllers before flight. While transitioning these models to physical testing, I analyzed aerodynamic and electromechanical response to identify and mitigate critical hardware constraints—such as actuator delay, motor saturation, and integrator windup—that were completely invisible in simulation. This iterative process of translating theoretical models into successful, physical flight test demonstrations equipped me with robust experience in systems engineering, autonomous control validation, and hardware-in-the-loop troubleshooting.