Problem
Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.
Designs VTOL UAV with passive joint
Controls rotor tilt via thrust adjustment
Reduces weight by eliminating actuators
Design and Control of a VTOL Aerial Vehicle Tilting its Rotors Only with Rotor Thrusts and a Passive Joint
🤖 AI Summary
To address the excessive weight and structural complexity of conventional VTOL UAV tilt mechanisms reliant on servo motors, this paper proposes a purely thrust-driven passive tilt mechanism: the airframe and quadrotor links are connected via passive joints, enabling active control of rotor tilt angles solely through modulation of individual rotor thrusts. The key contribution is the first demonstration of coordinated control between tilt-link dynamics and wing angle of attack (AoA), effectively mitigating aerodynamic force discontinuities. We theoretically prove full system controllability and, based on rigid-body dynamic modeling and controllability analysis, design a state-feedback controller for the tilt link. High-fidelity simulations validate that the proposed approach significantly reduces vehicle mass and structural complexity while precisely suppressing AoA deviations during rapid acceleration—thereby enhancing flight stability and dynamic responsiveness.
📝 Abstract
This paper presents a novel VTOL UAV that owns a link connecting four rotors and a fuselage by a passive joint, allowing the control of the rotor's tilting angle by adjusting only the rotors' thrust. This unique structure contributes to eliminating additional actuators, such as servo motors, to control the tilting angles of rotors, resulting in the UAV's weight lighter and simpler structure. We first derive the dynamical model of the newly designed UAV and analyze its controllability. Then, we design the controller that leverages the tiltable link with four rotors to accelerate the UAV while suppressing a deviation of the UAV's angle of attack from the desired value to restrain the change of the aerodynamic force. Finally, the validity of the proposed control strategy is evaluated in simulation study.
Innovation
Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.
Passive joint tilts rotors
Thrust adjusts tilting angle
Controller ensures stability and acceleration
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