Related papers: Airflow Source Seeking on Small Quadrotors Using a Single Flow Sensor

Airflow Source Seeking on Small Quadrotors Using a Single Flow Sensor

URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2601.15607v1
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2026 03:13:24 GMT
Title: Airflow Source Seeking on Small Quadrotors Using a Single Flow Sensor
Abstract summary: Plume tracking on small quadrotors would allow systems to operate around humans and fly in more confined spaces.<n>We present an approach to complement chemical plume tracking with airflow source-seeking behavior using a custom flow sensor.<n>A modified version of the Cast and Surge' algorithm takes advantage of flow direction sensing to find and navigate towards flow sources.
Score: 7.47083953083436
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Abstract: As environmental disasters happen more frequently and severely, seeking the source of pollutants or harmful particulates using plume tracking becomes even more important. Plume tracking on small quadrotors would allow these systems to operate around humans and fly in more confined spaces, but can be challenging due to poor sensitivity and long response times from gas sensors that fit on small quadrotors. In this work, we present an approach to complement chemical plume tracking with airflow source-seeking behavior using a custom flow sensor that can sense both airflow magnitude and direction on small quadrotors < 100 g. We use this sensor to implement a modified version of the `Cast and Surge' algorithm that takes advantage of flow direction sensing to find and navigate towards flow sources. A series of characterization experiments verified that the system can detect airflow while in flight and reorient the quadrotor toward the airflow. Several trials with random starting locations and orientations were used to show that our source-seeking algorithm can reliably find a flow source. This work aims to provide a foundation for future platforms that can use flow sensors in concert with other sensors to enable richer plume tracking data collection and source-seeking.

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