Design, Modeling and Control of an Over-actuated Hexacopter Tilt-Rotor

This work presents the modeling, control, and simulation of a new Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) prototype, of an over-actuated Hexacopter Tilt-Rotor (HTR) type. Regarding its topology, 2 of the 6 actuators are independently tilted by servomotors. This possibility gives the HTR higher maneuver-ability and reliability. In this combination, every propulsion motor and servomotor has its Real Control Action (RCA) processed simply and with low computational cost procedures since the control allocation technique can be embedded even in traditional control boards. Furthermore, this control allocation will increase the vehicle’s yaw capability and steering control. The control structure used is a cascaded loop of Proportional (P)-Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers with the Successive Loop Closure (SLC), in all 5 manipulated Degrees of Freedom (DoF). The results conclude that flights presented reasonable stability and maneuverability.