Title: Modelling and attitude control of novel multi-ducted-fan aerial vehicle in forward flight

Authors: Lu Lin; Yue Ma; Wanming Chen

Addresses: Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing, China ' Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing, China ' Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing, China

Abstract: Multi-ducted-fan aerial vehicle (MDFAV) is a novel platform for future transportation with promising prospects, which presents brand new challenges to the modelling and control approaches. In this paper, a comprehensive flight dynamical model of MDFAV is established utilising the aerodynamics principles and classical rigid body dynamics theory aiming to balance the complexity and covering necessary important dynamical behaviour of MDFAV, which is converted into state space by linearisation at the specific speed in forward flight mode in the following step. Subsequently a dual closed loop PID controller is put forward to keep flight fast and stable with the key coefficients tuned by non-smooth parameters optimisation method. The software and hardware of flight controller are designed for flight test of MDFAV systematically. Experiment results demonstrate excellent tracking performance and robustness, and at the same time, environment disturbances are suppressed effectively.

Keywords: multi-ducted-fan aerial vehicle; MDFAV; dual closed loop PID; non-smooth optimisation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMIC.2019.096841

International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control, 2019 Vol.31 No.1, pp.81 - 93

Received: 22 Jan 2018
Accepted: 24 Apr 2018
Published online: 11 Dec 2018 *

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