The standard quadrotor is one of the most popular and widely used aerial vehicle of recent decades, offering great maneuverability with mechanical simplicity. However, the under-actuation characteristic limits its applications, especially when it comes to generating desired wrench with six degrees of freedom (DOF). Therefore, existing work often compromises between mechanical complexity and the controllable DOF of the aerial system. To take advantage of the mechanical simplicity of a standard quadrotor, we propose a modular aerial system, IdentiQuad, that combines only homogeneous quadrotor-based modules. Each IdentiQuad can be operated alone like a standard quadrotor, but at the same time allows task-specific assembly, increasing the controllable DOF of the system. Each module is interchangeable within its assembly. We also propose a general controller for different configurations of assemblies, capable of tolerating rotor failures and balancing the energy consumption of each module. The functionality and robustness of the system and its controller are validated using physics-based simulations for different assembly configurations.

翻译：标准四旋翼是近几十年来最受欢迎且应用最广泛的飞行器之一，兼具高机动性与机械简洁性。然而，其欠驱动特性限制了应用场景，尤其在需要产生六自由度期望力螺旋时存在不足。因此，现有工作常需在机械复杂度与可控自由度之间进行权衡。为充分利用标准四旋翼的机械简洁性，本文提出一种仅由同构四旋翼模块组成的模块化飞行系统——IdentiQuad。每个IdentiQuad可像标准四旋翼独立运行，同时支持按任务需求组装，从而提升系统的可控自由度。各模块在组装体内部可互换。我们同时提出了适配不同组装构型的通用控制器，该控制器具备容忍旋翼故障及平衡各模块能耗的能力。通过多组装构型的物理仿真，验证了系统与控制器的功能性与鲁棒性。