Mark Costello
Papers
9
Total Citations
115
H-Index
6
About
Mark Costello is a robotics and aerospace engineer whose research sits at the dynamic intersection of rotorcraft systems, robotic landing gear, and autonomous vehicle design. His work has fundamentally advanced how helicopters and other rotorcraft interact with challenging landing environments, from sloped and unprepared terrain to moving ship decks. Costello's most influential contribution — his development of robotic articulated landing gear (RLG) systems — has reshaped thinking about rotorcraft safety and operational flexibility, with his 2015 hard landing mitigation study garnering 37 citations and his slope landing work from 2013 earning 29. Beyond landing gear, Costello has explored unconventional vehicle concepts, including the hopping rotochute, a hybrid micro-vehicle designed to navigate complex terrain through intermittent rotor-powered hops. His later research expanded into crashworthy cable-driven mechanisms, locking landing gear systems, and active suppression of ground resonance — a potentially catastrophic mechanical instability in grounded rotorcraft. Spanning over a decade of sustained innovation, Costello's body of work reflects a commitment to making aerial vehicles safer, more adaptable, and capable of operating in environments once considered too demanding or dangerous.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Rotorcraft Hard Landing Mitigation Using Robotic Landing Gear37 citations · 2015
- 2Rotorcraft Slope Landings with Articulated Landing Gear29 citations · 2013
- 3Measured and Simulated Motion of a Hopping Rotochute15 citations · 2009
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- 7Rotorcraft Robotic Landing Gear With Locking Mechanisms4 citations · 2023
- 8Vehicle Design in Aerial Robotics2 citations · 2021
- 9Suppression of ground resonance in rotorcraft using active landing gear2 citations · 2021