A Unified Approach to Configuration-based Dynamic Analysis of Quadcopters for Optimal Stability

A special type of rotary-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), called Quadcopter have prevailed to the civilian use for the past decade. They have gained significant amount of attention within the UAV community for their redundancy and ease of control, despite the fact that they fall under an under-actuated system category. They come in a variety of configurations. The "+" and "x" configurations were introduced first. Literature pertinent to these two configurations is vast. However, in this paper, we define 6 additional possible configurations for a Quadcopter that can be built under either "+" or "x" setup. These configurations can be achieved by changing the angle that the axis of rotation for rotors make with the main body, i.e., fuselage. This would also change the location of the COM with respect to the propellers which can add to the overall stability. A comprehensive dynamic model for all these configurations is developed for the first time. The overall stability for these configurations are addressed. In particular, it is shown that one configuration can lead to the most statically-stable platform by adopting damping motion in Roll/Pitch/Yaw, which is described for the first time to the best of our knowledge.Comment: 6 page, 9 figure

Propeller Performance In Presence Of Freestream

This paper presents mathematical modeling for thrust force and moments generated by a propeller. In particular, the effects of freestream on propeller’s performance are investigated. We introduce some of the applications of the proposed model in modeling multi-rotor UAVs which helps to increase stability or maneuverability of the vehicle. In the end, simulation results for thrust force and moments of an example propeller in presence of a uniform freestream are presented

Proceedings of the 2018 Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME) International Congress

Published proceedings of the 2018 Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME) International Congress, hosted by York University, 27-30 May 2018