Proposal of 6DOF multi-copter and verification of its controllability

Multi-copters have the capability to control the torque in three dimensions without interference from each axis. With that feasible characteristic, multi-copters are applied for many tasks. However, they cannot control the thrust in three dimensions, only in the vertical direction. Therefore, they cannot control their position and attitude independently. Because of this drawback, applicable tasks for conventional unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are limited. The proposed U AV realizes 6DOF controllability by tilting the rotors of a conventional hexacopter. The proposed UAV can undertake the tasks that cannot be done by conventional multi-copters. The authors also designed the controller for the proposed U AV and the effectiveness was verified through a simulation.