Flight Systems and Control Laboratory

For the last two weeks, members of our ADR competition team have competed in the 3rd round of qualifications for the A2RL x DCL - Drone Champions League Autonomous Drone Challenge in Abu Dhabi! From intense work sessions to incredible drone flights, it’s been a journey of innovation, collaboration, and pushing the limits of AI-enabled autonomous flight. Huge thanks to our Chao Qin, Jingxiang Chen, Ivan Lin, and Wenda Zhao for representing ADR, as well as Professor Hugh Liu and Professor Angela Schoellig for the sponsorship to make this adventure possible—onwards and upwards! University of Toronto, University of Toronto Robotics Institute, University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, Vector Institute, Flight Systems and Control Laboratory, Learning Systems and Robotics Lab

Excited to see Dr. Longhao Qian present his work on "Energy Aware Planning of a Quadrotor with 5G Access Point in Disaster Response" at the IEEE 10th World Forum on #IoT. A valuable step forward in integrating UAV technology with wireless communication for critical disaster response tasks. #FSCLab

Let's go! Check out the University of Toronto Autonomous Drone Racing (ADR) Team's webpage for more info about sponsorship opportunities: https://lnkd.in/gesZSfvM. #FSC_Lab #UTIAS #UofT

Congratulations, Darya! #FSC_Lab #UTIAS #UofT

On Wednesday, October 23rd, I visited Professor Stephen L Smith and Professor Jun Liu at the University of Waterloo. I was happy to give a talk about my current work at Professor Stephen L Smith’s lab and to have an insightful and fruitful conversation with students from both labs. I want to express my sincerest gratitude towards Professor Stephen Smith and Professor Jun Liu for their kind arrangements!

The University of Toronto Autonomous Drone Racing Team is gearing up for the 3rd round of qualification in the A2RL X DCL - Drone Champions League Autonomous Drone Challenge! Under the leadership of Professor Hugh Liu and Professor Angela Schoellig, we are working tirelessly to push the boundaries of AI-enabled racing drones. As we prepare for the upcoming qualification and grand finale, both held in Abu Dhabi, we are actively seeking sponsorships and partnerships with firms worldwide. This is a unique opportunity to not only support our project but also gain significant brand exposure, collaboration opportunities, and access to our cutting-edge research in autonomous systems and embodied AI technology. Join us on this thrilling journey and be a part of the future of autonomous flight! University of Toronto Robotics Institute, University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, Vector Institute, Flight Systems and Control Laboratory, Learning Systems and Robotics Lab

Professor Liu and his wife had the pleasure of attending the wedding of his Ph.D. student, Zaheed Elahi, and his wife, Svitlana. It was a beautiful celebration of love and commitment, and they were honored to share this special moment with the newlyweds. Wishing Zaheed and Svitlana a lifetime of happiness together! #FSCLab #UTIAS

#UofT Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton has won the 2024 #NobelPrize for Physics. Hinton shares the prize with John J. Hopfield of Princeton University “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.” https://bit.ly/3YgJa48

At this year’s I. I. Glass Lecture, Cindi's Etkin Medal was received by Professor Hugh Liu on her behalf since she could not make it to the lecture. Professor Liu read Cindi's citation and her own words upon receiving the award: "I am deeply honored to receive the Etkin Medal from the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies. This recognition reflects the hard work and support from Professor Liu and the #FSC_Lab members throughout my Master's journey. I am grateful to be part of such an innovative community, which has been instrumental in my growth from mechanical engineering to aerial robotics. I dedicate this award to my family and friends for their constant encouragement. Thank you for this honor." I. I. Glass Lecture commemorates the career of one of the eminent professors at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, Professor Emeritus Irvine Israel Glass, who worked in the area of shock waves. #UTIAS #UofT

Major achievement alert! Thrilled to share that our very own Cindi Feng (MASc '23) has been awarded the prestigious Etkin Medal for being the top master's student who completed their degree requirements in the previous year! Established through a donation by the University Professor Emeritus Bernard (Ben) Etkin, the Etkin Medal is presented annually in recognition of excellence in a MASc program at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies. This year, Cindi was recognized for her outstanding achievements and dedication to her research. Congratulations, Cindi! We look forward to hearing more of your success stories! Cindi's citation for the Etkin Medal "Cindi Feng earned her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia and her Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) in 2020 and 2023, respectively. Her research at UTIAS focused on collision avoidance for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) with tethered payloads in constrained environments. Her Master’s thesis developed an uncertainty disturbance estimator-based (UDE-based) nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) framework for navigating slung-load UAS around obstacles in limited spaces. This work demonstrated the effectiveness of NMPC in managing payload motion to avoid collisions while adhering to workspace boundaries, validated through high-fidelity simulations with PX4 and Gazebo. Cindi Feng was the first author of the conference paper "Collision-free path planning and control of coordinated UAVs with tethered payloads," presented at the IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA) 2023. This paper explored NMPC for coordinating a pair of slung-load UAVs, highlighting the benefits of separating planning and control to improve mission success. Additionally, Cindi Feng contributed to the journal paper "AquaFly Project: Autonomous Multi-drone Water Sampling with a Payload Deployment and Retraction Mechanism," detailing a collaboration between UTIAS and Queen’s University. This project involved designing UAS for autonomous water sampling with a retractable payload deployment mechanism, showcasing successful multi-drone operations and potential advancements in environmental monitoring. Aside from academics, in the 2021-22 academic year, Cindi Feng led the fuselage team for the SAE Aerospace student design team, overseeing a group of undergraduate and graduate students and directing projects for the SAE Aero competition, including empennage design and aircraft analysis using SolidWorks and MATLAB." Read more about Professor Etkin: https://lnkd.in/gApvyBW7. #FSC_Lab #UTIAS #UofT #Etkin_Medal