A Novel Actuation Concept for a Multi Rotor UAV

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel strategy to improve the performance and fault tolerance of multi-rotor vehicles. The proposed strategy uses dual axis tilting propellers and thus enables three different actuation mechanisms, namely, gyroscopic torques, thrust vectoring and differential thrusting. Unlike the conventional quadrotor, the proposed strategy offers a wider range of control torques by combining the three actuation mechanisms. Conventional quadrotors cannot be reconfigured if one of rotors fails. However, the proposed strategy is still able to reconfigure the vehicle with complete failure of one rotor and a pair of adverse motors. In order to prove this concept, a dual axis tilting UAV is first designed and prototyped. Next, a mathematical representation of the prototyped vehicle is modelled and verified using experiments. Then, a control system is developed based on a PD controller and pseudoinverse control allocator and validated through tests on a rig and flight tests. The tests show that the vehicle is faster than a conventional counterpart and that it can resist the failure of two rotors. Finally, this paper suggests how to lead further substantial improvements in performance.