Comparison of Fixed and Variable Pitch Actuators for Agile Quadrotors

This paper presents the design, analysis and experimental testing of a variable- pitch quadrotor. A custom in-lab built quadrotor with on-board attitude stabi- lization is developed and tested. An analysis of the dynamic di erences in thrust output between a xed-pitch and variable-pitch propelle...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cutler, Mark Johnson, Ure, Nazim Kemal, Michini, Bernard J., How, Jonathan P.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Aerospace Controls Laboratory
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: American Institute of Aeromautics and Astronautics 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82028
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8576-1930
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0776-7901
_version_ 1826196178773999616
author Cutler, Mark Johnson
Ure, Nazim Kemal
Michini, Bernard J.
How, Jonathan P.
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Aerospace Controls Laboratory
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Aerospace Controls Laboratory
Cutler, Mark Johnson
Ure, Nazim Kemal
Michini, Bernard J.
How, Jonathan P.
author_sort Cutler, Mark Johnson
collection MIT
description This paper presents the design, analysis and experimental testing of a variable- pitch quadrotor. A custom in-lab built quadrotor with on-board attitude stabi- lization is developed and tested. An analysis of the dynamic di erences in thrust output between a xed-pitch and variable-pitch propeller is given and validated with simulation and experimental results. It is shown that variable-pitch actuation has signi cant advantages over the conventional xed-pitch con guration, includ- ing increased thrust rate of change, decreased control saturation, and the ability to quickly and e ciently reverse thrust. These advantages result in improved quadro-tor tracking of linear and angular acceleration command inputs in both simulation and hardware testing. The bene ts should enable more aggressive and aerobatic ying with the variable-pitch quadrotor than with standard xed-pitch actuation, while retaining much of the mechanical simplicity and robustness of the xed-pitch quadrotor.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T10:22:46Z
format Article
id mit-1721.1/82028
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
language en_US
last_indexed 2024-09-23T10:22:46Z
publishDate 2013
publisher American Institute of Aeromautics and Astronautics
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/820282022-09-26T17:30:29Z Comparison of Fixed and Variable Pitch Actuators for Agile Quadrotors Cutler, Mark Johnson Ure, Nazim Kemal Michini, Bernard J. How, Jonathan P. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Aerospace Controls Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Cutler, Mark Johnson Ure, Nazim Kemal Michini, Bernard J. How, Jonathan P. This paper presents the design, analysis and experimental testing of a variable- pitch quadrotor. A custom in-lab built quadrotor with on-board attitude stabi- lization is developed and tested. An analysis of the dynamic di erences in thrust output between a xed-pitch and variable-pitch propeller is given and validated with simulation and experimental results. It is shown that variable-pitch actuation has signi cant advantages over the conventional xed-pitch con guration, includ- ing increased thrust rate of change, decreased control saturation, and the ability to quickly and e ciently reverse thrust. These advantages result in improved quadro-tor tracking of linear and angular acceleration command inputs in both simulation and hardware testing. The bene ts should enable more aggressive and aerobatic ying with the variable-pitch quadrotor than with standard xed-pitch actuation, while retaining much of the mechanical simplicity and robustness of the xed-pitch quadrotor. Aurora Flight Sciences Corp. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Graduate Research Fellowship Grant 0645960) 2013-11-07T20:16:08Z 2013-11-07T20:16:08Z 2011-08 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/ConferencePaper http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82028 Mark Cutler, Nazim-Kemal Ure, Bernard Michini, and Jonathan How. "Comparison of Fixed and Variable Pitch Actuators for Agile Quadrotors" AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference (August 2011) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8576-1930 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0776-7901 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.2514/6.2011-6406 Proceedings of the AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ application/pdf American Institute of Aeromautics and Astronautics MIT web domain
spellingShingle Cutler, Mark Johnson
Ure, Nazim Kemal
Michini, Bernard J.
How, Jonathan P.
Comparison of Fixed and Variable Pitch Actuators for Agile Quadrotors
title Comparison of Fixed and Variable Pitch Actuators for Agile Quadrotors
title_full Comparison of Fixed and Variable Pitch Actuators for Agile Quadrotors
title_fullStr Comparison of Fixed and Variable Pitch Actuators for Agile Quadrotors
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of Fixed and Variable Pitch Actuators for Agile Quadrotors
title_short Comparison of Fixed and Variable Pitch Actuators for Agile Quadrotors
title_sort comparison of fixed and variable pitch actuators for agile quadrotors
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82028
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8576-1930
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0776-7901
work_keys_str_mv AT cutlermarkjohnson comparisonoffixedandvariablepitchactuatorsforagilequadrotors
AT urenazimkemal comparisonoffixedandvariablepitchactuatorsforagilequadrotors
AT michinibernardj comparisonoffixedandvariablepitchactuatorsforagilequadrotors
AT howjonathanp comparisonoffixedandvariablepitchactuatorsforagilequadrotors