Development and testing of vertical take-off and landing aerial vehicle with tandem electric ducted fan motor

Abstract

Due to the complexity of control mechanisms, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aerial vehicles have not found their way into widespread commercial use. Thanks to the availability of advanced technology, it is possible to develop simpler systems. Such systems could be used in transportation, the military, surveillance, etc. The research work is aimed at proposing an automatic stabilisation control algorithm solution for the VTOL hover flight phase. A critical analysis of the existing research work on a similar topic is provided. A flight platform and a suitable test bench for non-destructive tests were developed and presented in the current paper. The flight platform actuator system consists of two counter-rotating electric ducted fan (EDF) thrust motors and two servo systems that control pitch and roll movements. Moreover, the paper presents control algorithm development, structure, and experiments that confirm the proposed solutions. The results of the research work provide a solid foundation for developing the VTOL aerial vehicle, and the test bench prototype demonstrates a concept that can be further used on various flight platforms.

Keywords

• unmanned aerial vehicles
• system testing
• motors.