An overview on development of miniature unmanned rotorcraft systems

Abstract

In this article, we attempt to document a technical overview on modern miniature unmanned rotorcraft systems. We first give a brief review on the historical development of the rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and then move on to present a fairly detailed and general overview on the hardware configuration, software integration, aerodynamic modeling and automatic flight control system involved in constructing the unmanned system. The applications of the emerging technology in the military and civilian domains are also highlighted. © Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag 2009.