Design and analysis of a VTOL tilt-wing UAV

---

Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2020

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: HASAN ÇAKIR

Danışman: Dilek Funda Kurtuluş

Özet:

In this study, the design and analysis of a UAV, which is capable of vertical take-off and landing using fixed six rotors placed on the tilt-wing and tilt-tail, will be explained. The aircraft has four rotors on its wing and two rotors on its tail. The main wing and horizontal tail are capable of 90° tilting. Both aerodynamic and thrust forces are used during VTOL, transition, and forward flight. Aerodynamic analysis has been performed in ANSYS Fluent v.18. A non-linear six DoF model, involving a 3D CAD model of the aircraft, has been created in MATLAB/Simulink/Simscape. The transition problem has been identified. Three types of robust controller algorithms, involving PID and LQR methods, have been implemented to overcome the challenges which have been faced while performing transition from vertical to horizontal flight phase and vice versa, and the results of each controller type have been compared concerning those criteria. Eight trim points have been identified for full mission profile, and for each trim condition, separate controllers have been designed. Gain scheduling has been employed between trim points for a smooth transition.