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arXiv · 2607.11651

Coordinated Incremental Trajectory Tracking of a Tailsitter Drone

Evangelos Ntouros·Ewoud J. J. Smeur
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Abstract

This paper derives an analytical differential flatness transform for a tailsitter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) under coordinated flight conditions using a simplified aerodynamic model. The proposed framework is formulated exclusively using rotation matrices, avoiding the ambiguities inherent to Euler angle representations. The method extends the applicability of an existing state-of-the-art differential flatness-based controller to flight regimes involving a significant vertical velocity component, where the previous approach becomes inapplicable. The proposed framework is validated experimentally with trajectories that highlight its advantages in these regimes.

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Evangelos Ntouros, Ewoud J. J. Smeur. 2026-07-13. Coordinated Incremental Trajectory Tracking of a Tailsitter Drone. https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.11651

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