Dr. Dileep Kalathil and Dr. Moble Benedict received an Office of Naval Research (ONR) grant to study Autonomous VTOL Aircraft Ship Landing. The team is geared to develop the next generation of fully autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft on ships under rough conditions by combining an optimal aircraft design with a robust reinforcement learning control algorithm so precise that even if a vehicle is changing course or is in the presence of heavy winds, it can still track the horizon bar on the ship, which is a green, lighted, gyro-stabilized strip that provides the pilot an artificial horizon.
Dr. Benedict and Dr. Kalathil have proven success in using reinforcement learning to track and safely land an unmanned aerial system (UAS) in various conditions, including moderate horizontal winds, foggy visibility and changes in course and speed. Now, they’re merging their respective disciplines of aerospace engineering and electrical and computer engineering to build on these advancements.