Design and Validation of a New Tilting Rotor VTOL Drone: Structural Optimization, Flight Dynamics, and PID Control

Area of Science:

• Aerospace Engineering
• Robotics
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offer combined fixed-wing and multi-rotor capabilities but lack extensive experimental validation.
• Bridging the gap between theoretical models and practical application is essential for advancing VTOL UAV technology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design, build, and experimentally validate a novel tilt-rotor VTOL UAV prototype.
• To address the experimental validation gap for tilt-rotor VTOL UAVs.
• To integrate fixed-wing and multi-rotor advantages into a single UAV platform.

Main Methods:

• Developed a dynamic model using an "X" quadrotor configuration and Euler parameters for attitude transformation.
• Performed structural optimization on the airframe and landing gear using hybrid meshing, inertia release, and unified objective methods.
• Conducted vibration analysis to identify resonant frequencies and implemented a dual-serial PID control system for stability.
• Carried out experimental validation through low-altitude flights.

Main Results:

• Structural optimization ensured deformation (57.1 mm) and stress (379.21 MPa) remained within acceptable limits.
• Landing gear optimization reduced stress by 32.63 MPa.
• Identified hazardous vibration frequencies (11-12 Hz) to prevent resonance.
• Achieved stable motor speed tracking (±5 RPM) and rolling attitude control (<10% error).

Conclusions:

• The developed tilt-rotor VTOL UAV prototype is feasible, demonstrating successful integration of fixed-wing and multi-rotor characteristics.
• Experimental validation provided critical data, highlighting the impact of ground effects on pitch/yaw performance.
• This research contributes essential experimental insights for the future development of tilt-rotor UAVs.