On Robust Transition Maneuvers for a Class of Tail-Sitter Vehicles

This paper focuses on the problem of performing a robust textit{transition maneuver} for a particular class of tail sitter V/STOL (Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing) aerial vehicles in which a switch from the hover flight towards the more efficient level flight configuration can be obtained by a change of the attitude. By considering also the presence of wind disturbances, this work proposes a control strategy based upon a path planning approach in order to improve the flight envelope protection of the airframe. Simulations are presented to show the effectiveness of the results.