Improved PVTOL Test Bench for the Study of Over-Actuated Tilt-Rotor Propulsion Systems
In recent years, applications exploiting the advantages of tilt-rotors and other vectored thrust propulsion systems have become widespread, particularly in many novel Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) configurations. These propulsion systems can provide additional control authority, enabling more...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | Machines |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1702/12/1/46 |
| _version_ | 1797343126601334784 |
|---|---|
| author | Luis Amezquita-Brooks Eber Maciel-Martínez Diana Hernandez-Alcantara |
| author_facet | Luis Amezquita-Brooks Eber Maciel-Martínez Diana Hernandez-Alcantara |
| author_sort | Luis Amezquita-Brooks |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In recent years, applications exploiting the advantages of tilt-rotors and other vectored thrust propulsion systems have become widespread, particularly in many novel Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) configurations. These propulsion systems can provide additional control authority, enabling more complex flight modes, but the resulting control systems can be challenging to design due to the mismatch between the vehicle degrees of freedom and physical input variables. These propulsion systems present both advantages and difficulties because they can exert the same overall forces and moments in many different propulsive configurations. This leads to the traditional non-uniqueness problem when using the inverse dynamics control allocation approach, which is the basis of many popular VTOL control algorithms. In this article, a modified Planar VTOL (PVTOL) test bench configuration, which considers an arbitrary number of co-linear tilting rotors, is introduced as a benchmark for the study of the control allocation problem. The resulting propulsion system is then modeled and linearized in a closed and compact form. This allows a simple and systematic derivation of many of the currently used control allocation approaches. According to the proposed PVTOL configuration, a two-rotor test bench is implemented experimentally and a decoupling control allocation strategy based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) analysis is developed. The proposed approach is compared with a traditional input mixer algorithm based on physical intuition. The results show that the SVD-based solution achieves better cross-coupling reduction and preserves the main properties of the physically derived approach. Finally, it is shown that the proposed PVTOL configuration is effective for studying the control allocation problem experimentally in a controlled environment and could serve as a benchmark for comparing different approaches. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:43:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4aaa6836b0834205bf0c2a0e5ef9f021 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-1702 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:43:10Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Machines |
| spelling | doaj.art-4aaa6836b0834205bf0c2a0e5ef9f0212024-01-26T17:24:14ZengMDPI AGMachines2075-17022024-01-011214610.3390/machines12010046Improved PVTOL Test Bench for the Study of Over-Actuated Tilt-Rotor Propulsion SystemsLuis Amezquita-Brooks0Eber Maciel-Martínez1Diana Hernandez-Alcantara2Facultad de Ingenieria Mecanica y Electrica, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, San Nicolás de los Garza 66455, NL, MexicoFacultad de Ingenieria Mecanica y Electrica, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, San Nicolás de los Garza 66455, NL, MexicoSchool of Engineering and Technologies, Universidad de Monterrey, San Pedro Garza García 66238, NL, MexicoIn recent years, applications exploiting the advantages of tilt-rotors and other vectored thrust propulsion systems have become widespread, particularly in many novel Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) configurations. These propulsion systems can provide additional control authority, enabling more complex flight modes, but the resulting control systems can be challenging to design due to the mismatch between the vehicle degrees of freedom and physical input variables. These propulsion systems present both advantages and difficulties because they can exert the same overall forces and moments in many different propulsive configurations. This leads to the traditional non-uniqueness problem when using the inverse dynamics control allocation approach, which is the basis of many popular VTOL control algorithms. In this article, a modified Planar VTOL (PVTOL) test bench configuration, which considers an arbitrary number of co-linear tilting rotors, is introduced as a benchmark for the study of the control allocation problem. The resulting propulsion system is then modeled and linearized in a closed and compact form. This allows a simple and systematic derivation of many of the currently used control allocation approaches. According to the proposed PVTOL configuration, a two-rotor test bench is implemented experimentally and a decoupling control allocation strategy based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) analysis is developed. The proposed approach is compared with a traditional input mixer algorithm based on physical intuition. The results show that the SVD-based solution achieves better cross-coupling reduction and preserves the main properties of the physically derived approach. Finally, it is shown that the proposed PVTOL configuration is effective for studying the control allocation problem experimentally in a controlled environment and could serve as a benchmark for comparing different approaches.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1702/12/1/46PVTOLtest benchVTOLcontrol allocationcross-coupling |
| spellingShingle | Luis Amezquita-Brooks Eber Maciel-Martínez Diana Hernandez-Alcantara Improved PVTOL Test Bench for the Study of Over-Actuated Tilt-Rotor Propulsion Systems Machines PVTOL test bench VTOL control allocation cross-coupling |
| title | Improved PVTOL Test Bench for the Study of Over-Actuated Tilt-Rotor Propulsion Systems |
| title_full | Improved PVTOL Test Bench for the Study of Over-Actuated Tilt-Rotor Propulsion Systems |
| title_fullStr | Improved PVTOL Test Bench for the Study of Over-Actuated Tilt-Rotor Propulsion Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improved PVTOL Test Bench for the Study of Over-Actuated Tilt-Rotor Propulsion Systems |
| title_short | Improved PVTOL Test Bench for the Study of Over-Actuated Tilt-Rotor Propulsion Systems |
| title_sort | improved pvtol test bench for the study of over actuated tilt rotor propulsion systems |
| topic | PVTOL test bench VTOL control allocation cross-coupling |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1702/12/1/46 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT luisamezquitabrooks improvedpvtoltestbenchforthestudyofoveractuatedtiltrotorpropulsionsystems AT ebermacielmartinez improvedpvtoltestbenchforthestudyofoveractuatedtiltrotorpropulsionsystems AT dianahernandezalcantara improvedpvtoltestbenchforthestudyofoveractuatedtiltrotorpropulsionsystems |