Drone Flight Controller: Resonant Dynamic Inversion Control for Bio-Inspired Tensegrity Actuation in GPS-Denied Environments.

Traditional multi-rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) rely on rigid-body mechanics and Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers, making them susceptible to control saturation and dynamic instability, particularly in highly cluttered or GPS-denied environments. Inspired by advanced autonomous systems (such as those pioneered by the Tokyo-based ACSL), this paper proposes a novel flight control paradigm: the integration of a Resonant Dynamic Inversion (RDI) Controller with a Bio-Inspired Tensegrity Actuation Platform (TAP). The T-AP replaces rigid motor mounts with lightweight, dynamically tunable tensegrity linkages controlled by micro-actuators, enabling high-frequency, low-amplitude frame shape changes. The RDI controller leverages adaptive Dynamic Inversion to actively identify and utilize the frame’s natural structural resonance modes to generate control forces. This approach results in a highly energy-efficient and passively stable system with superior agility and robust resistance to external disturbances, overcoming the inherent limitations of conventional quadrotor design. The comprehensive mathematical model and simulation analysis presented herein demonstrate significant improvements in trajectory tracking accuracy and energy expenditure compared to standard PID-controlled rigid systems.