Development, Modeling and Control of a Dual Tilt-Wing UAV in Vertical Flight

Abstract

Hybrid Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (H-UAVs) are currently a very interesting field of research in the modern scientific community due to their ability to perform Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) and Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL). This paper focuses on the Dual Tilt-wing UAV, a vehicle capable of performing both flight modes (VTOL and CTOL). The UAV complete dynamic model is obtained using the Newton–Euler formulation, which includes aerodynamic effects, as the drag and lift forces of the wings, which are a function of airstream generated by the rotors, the cruise speed, tilt-wing angle and angle of attack. The airstream velocity generated by the rotors is studied in a test bench. The projected area on the UAV wing that is affected by the airstream generated by the rotors is specified and 3D aerodynamic analysis is performed for this region. In addition, aerodynamic coefficients of the UAV in VTOL mode are calculated by using Computational Fluid Dynamics method (CFD) and are embedded into the nonlinear dynamic model. To validate the complete dynamic model, PD controllers are adopted for altitude and attitude control of the vehicle in VTOL mode, the controllers are simulated and implemented in the vehicle for indoor and outdoor flight experiments.