Control Framework for Multirotors with Additional Horizontal Thrusters

As the adoption of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) increases in the industrial sector, the limitations of traditional multirotors have become more noticeable. Though widely employed, conventional multirotors are under-actuated, which restricts the types and quality of manipulation task they can perform. Fully-actuated systems on the other hand, offer an interesting alternative solution with their decoupled forces. However, their widespread use is hindered by complexities in their control and design. Our proposed approach addresses this challenge by introducing multirotors equipped with horizontal thrusters, aiming to find a balance between simplicity and advanced control. These vehicles strategically incorporate additional thrust components tailored to specific tasks, thereby extending the capabilities of traditional under-actuated multirotors. We developed a control algorithm using the PX4 Autopilot to accommodate various flight modes, encompassing directional thrust flight and planar flight. To evaluate our system, we conducted simulations and tested vehicles with different actuator configurations. These simulations were then validated through real-world experiments using a UAV equipped with thrusters and a flight controller running a modified firmware with our control framework. This comprehensive approach allowed us to assess the system’s performance in both simulated and practical scenarios.