Control of Propeller Hang on Fixed Wing UAV

Abstract

The goal of this project is to design an off board control, sensing and computation system that will allow a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to transition autonomously from forward flight to vertical hover in a maneuver called propeller-hang. The capability to transition to prop-hang autonomously will allow the UAV to avoid obstacles and operate in a safer manner. A communication loop was created using Vicon motion capture equipment and a modified remote controlled UAV for off-board sensing. Control algorithms and observers were tested in simulation and in experiments, with transition to prop-hang successful, though with poor control in φ and y. The best LQR controller was one that was less aggressive while the finite difference reconstruction working the best for state estimation.