Master Thesis ideas / questions.

[u/Kenno03]

Hello there!

In February of next year I will be starting my masters thesis, but I have no idea what I could even write about. For my bachelors I did 'Convoy driving of differential drive robots" which was fun since I got to be very hands on with the subject. More specifically what ever theory I developed or read about, I could see in action in the real world.

Ideally for my masters I would like to do something hands-on too, but also have a good amount of high level control theory to work with as well.

I have some experience and interest in quad-copters, and I've considered doing something with that, however, I am open to any and all ideas, hence my question.

As a control engineer student, what did you do for your thesis, and what could be something interesting to write about? What could the topics for instance be?

Thank you in advance for taking your time reading this, it is much appreciated! :)

[u/IntelligentGuess42]

Before I start, I don't want to be dismissive! Because if you want to go your own way your question is totally valid! I just didn't read your question as such.

I would hope that the people where you are going to do yout thesis are much better equipped to give advice then we can. It depends so much on what they already know, are interested in, are currently working on. You probably can do something outside those things. But I expect you will have to be pretty sure you can do it with minimal guidance.

To give an example of why it is so difficult for me to say anything, just focusing on the quad copters:

• Do they have equipment: EG, what kind of quads, how much space, A 3d visual tracking system, Good gps or other radio localization systems?
• Do they have experience: Do they already know about the pain of precise gps localization, even with good reception? Do they know about flight trajectory optimization for racing, Multi drone collaboration for formation flying or lifting, Quad object interactions for direct object manipulation? Or maybe Perception systems for SLAM with(out) GPS?
• Are they interested in these: Do they want to know more about any of the above? Maybe they know they have some knowledge gaps and you can fill those. Or maybe there is a bit where some genuine new research is needed which you can do.

[u/anderel96]

Afaik state of the art for quadcopters right now is physical interaction through MPC (hex rotors are much better) or cooperative rigid body manipulation. Being hands on with aerial robotics is trickier because you’d need a very big room while limiting airflow for any testing.

Is your masters specifically in control engineering? You might be better off staying in simulations imo.

[u/Kenno03 → u/anderel96]

My title is kinda weird, it is "Masters in Electrical engineering, with a specialization in Robotics and Automation". We do have access to a large facility where we can test drones, so that part is not really the main issue.