Guidance and Control of Hybrid Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with Thrust Vectoring Capabilities

Quadrotors are one of the most popular choices for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in situations where fast disturbance rejection, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capabilities, and maneuverability are required. However, the quadrotor is inherently underactuated, and as a result, it is impossible to independently control the orientation and position of the vehicle. One solution to this problem involves rotors that can rotate relative to the vehicle frame, allowing for the angle of each rotor relative to the main vehicle frame to be independently controlled. This type of thrust vectoring in a quadrotor allows it to track both attitude and position trajectories. One other disadvantage with quadcopters is that they often fly at slower speeds and have shorter flight ranges compared to traditional fixed wing UAVs. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

James Forbes

Student:

Mitchell Cohen

Partner:

ARA Robotique

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Aerospace and defense

University:

Program: