# Design and Autonomous Stabilization of a Ballistically Launched Multirotor

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.10269 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.10269/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 22 Nov 2019.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Agile Fall Recovery for Quadrotors with Bidirectional Thrust via Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.16513/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Aircraft that can launch ballistically and convert to autonomous, free flying drones have applications in many areas such as emergency response, defense, and space exploration, where they can gather critical situational data using onboard sensors. This paper presents a ballistically launched, autonomously stabilizing multirotor prototype (SQUID, Streamlined Quick Unfolding Investigation Drone) with an onboard sensor suite, autonomy pipeline, and passive aerodynamic stability. We demonstrate autonomous transition from passive to vision based, active stabilization, confirming the ability of the multirotor to autonomously stabilize after a ballistic launch in a GPS denied environment.