Chen, L., Xiao, J., Zheng, Y., Alagappan, N. A., & Feroskhan, M. (2024). Design, Modeling, and Control of a Coaxial Drone. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 40, 1650–1663. https://doi.org/10.1109/tro.2024.3354161
Abstract:
Various quadrotor drones have been developed in
recent years,mainly focusing on either improvingmaximum thrust
per platform area or flight maneuverability. Evidently, achieving
both advantages simultaneously is a challenging task, since they
call for opposing rotor requirements. Specifically, improving the
drone’s maximum thrust per platform area mainly requires reducing
the number of rotors to make way for larger and more
powerful rotors. While this can be an effective method to increase
overall thrust, improving flight maneuverability requires a greater
number of rotors to generate larger rotating torques or to increase
the thrust vectoring capability. To address this challenge, we design
a novel coaxial dronewith two contra-rotating rotors for high thrust
efficiency while enabling independent dual-axis rotor rotation to
maintain maneuverability along the roll and pitch axes. The thrust
vectoring capability is provided by two dedicated servomotors
connected vertically in series with the coaxial propellers to produce
a compact and elongated fuselage frame. A nonlinear flight model
in six degrees of freedom is developed for the underactuated system,
incorporating four control inputs from the two propellers and
servos, respectively. Consequently, a nonlinear control allocation
approach is proposed such that the drone can produce a desired
control force and yaw torque to stabilize the drone’s position
and yaw angle. For the uncontrolled roll and pitch dynamics, a
damping component is added such that the roll and pitch angular
velocities can also be stabilized. Both numerical simulations and
real experiments are conducted to validate the design of the drone
and the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.
License type:
Publisher Copyright
Funding Info:
This research / project is supported by the A*STAR - 2021 MTC Young Individual Research Grants (YIRG) Call
Grant Reference no. : M21K3c0121