Modelling, attitude controller design and flight experiments of a novel micro-ducted-fan aircraft

Abstract

This research concerns a novel micro-ducted-fan aircraft. A structured attitude controller is designed for a novel unmanned aerial vehicle in the presence of strong state coupling and system perturbation. The novel unmanned aerial vehicle is equipped with two tandem ducted fans to provide the main thrust. Relative to conventional (open-rotor) aircraft, our novel unmanned aerial vehicle can perform much better in indoor or other complex conditions. The inherent advantages of the duct structure also make this type of unmanned aerial vehicle more compact and efficient. In this research, a structured multi-loop feedback attitude controller is employed based on H-infinity synthesis and tuned using a type of non-smooth optimization method. This non-smooth optimization method directly and efficiently tunes the proposed control parameters to ideal structures while ensuring satisfactory practical control performance. A series of computer simulations and basic flight experiments are applied to evaluate the performance of the proposed controller. The results of simulations and experiments confirm that the performance of the proposed attitude controller is reliable and efficient in practice.

Aerodynamic performance and analysis of a hovering micro-scale shrouded rotor in confined environment

“…The experiments are conducted at the Vehicle Research Center of BIT (Beijing Institute of Technology). There are a variety of SR vehicles 10,11,[38][39][40][41] developed successfully in the laboratory. In our past work, 10 the test model is mounted vertically and reversely on a test bench (0.3 m 3 0.3 m 3 1.2 m) so that the air flows from bottom to top.…”

“…Compared with traditional rotorcrafts, shrouded rotor (SR) aircrafts have some advantages, for example, high maneuverability, low noise, and producing more thrust than open rotor (OR) at the same size and power consumption. [8][9][10] In addition, relative to OR, SR considerably decreases the safety area 11 required for flight so that SR can hover in closer proximity than OR to confined conditions. Furthermore, as an aerial manipulator, [12][13][14] SR aircrafts equipped with robotic arms can carry out operations in close proximity to objects.…”

Aerodynamic analysis and control for a novel coaxial ducted fan aerial robot in ground effect

“…In previous studies, we have conducted a series of related work on ducted fan aerial robots. [19][20][21] With the continued progress of the research, the structure of the prototype is constantly changing. Based on the continuous optimization and the attempt to perfect the structure of the prototype, the resulting novel prototype mechanism is shown in Figure 1.…”

Modeling of a Novel Coaxial Ducted Fan Aerial Robot Combined with Corner Environment by Using Artificial Neural Network

“…In previous research, we have done a series of relevant studies on the prototype [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]. Through the continuous optimization of the prototype structure and design, the latest prototype with the manipulation is shown in Figure 2 .…”