A Parametric Study for the Effect of Morphing on Aerial Vehicles in Obstacle Avoidance

This paper investigates the impact of morphing capabilities on the maneuverability and obstacle avoidance of aerial vehicles. A comparative study is conducted among three configurations: fixed-wing, uniform morphing, and independent morphing. Morphing is introduced through changes in dihedral angles, with the dynamics modeled using a quasi-linear interpolation-based flight dynamics framework. A trajectory optimization problem is formulated to minimize control costs while meeting maneuvering objectives. Results demonstrate that morphing significantly enhances maneuverability over fixed wing case, and independent morphing outperforms uniform morphing in energy efficiency and adaptability. Through reachability analysis and obstacle avoidance scenarios, the benefits of increased morphing degrees of freedom are quantified, highlighting superior performance in agile maneuvers and challenging environments. Furthermore, the findings emphasize the importance of global trajectory optimization in maximizing morphing effectiveness. Overall, the work lays the groundwork for future high-fidelity control co-design of morphing aerial vehicles.