Modelling and controller design for tilt quadplane

Abstract

Tilt rotor quadplane is a relatively new concept for the world which empowers the fixed wing vehicle with the Vertical Take-Off and Landing capability. VTOL will not only help remove the dependency of the aircraft on a runway but will also prove to be economically beneficial for the companies by providing aerial access to previously inaccessible terrains. Even though VTOL is a topic of intensive research, it remains one of the most challenging tasks to achieve, mainly because of the non-linearities involved during the transition phase. These non-linearities induces instability in the vehicle, which can be controlled by obtaining an accurate aerodynamic model. In this thesis, the non-linearity is studied and a controller to overcome the challenge is developed. The quadplane is modelled with 2 different wing configuration and the accurate aerodynamic model is developed using the Lumped Vortex method for unsteady incompressible potential flow modelling. It is used for the three degree of freedom dynamic modelling of the vehicle for the longitudinal motion which is controlled during transition by speed and attitude controller. These are based on a PID Controller. The unknown states are calculated for transition and forward flight regime and presented as the result which show that successful transition of quadplane is carried out.