Inclined landing testing of an omni-directional unmanned aerial vehicle
Florentin von Frankenberg, Scott Nokleby · Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering · 2018
Traditional multi-rotors and helicopters control translational movement by changing the orientation of the entire vehicle. This approach limits the effectiveness of these vehicles in applications — such as a mobile manipulator base — in which it is often necessary to fly near large structures where unpredictable aerodynamic conditions exist. Maintaining precise control of position requires counteracting disturbance forces quickly. Having to roll and pitch the entire vehicle induces a delay that limits the ability of traditional multi-rotors and helicopters to maintain position precisely. Additionally, a mobile base must be capable of resisting arbitrary combinations of force and torque resulting from use of a manipulator arm. Traditional multi-rotors and helicopters do not have this ability. This paper presents a novel unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) concept that features the addition of four rotors orthogonal to the main lift rotors of a traditional quadrotor design. These rotors allow decoupling of orientation from translational movement. Tests done on a physical prototype demonstrated the ability to sustain roll or pitch angles up to 15° independent of translational movement, including the ability to move backwards at an angle and to dock on inclined surfaces in a controlled manner. The tests show that the OmniCopter can successfully land on surfaces with up to 30° inclination. This type of motion is impossible for a traditional multi-rotor vehicle.