Control and Control Allocation for Bimodal, Rotary Wing, Rolling–Flying Vehicles
Abstract
This paper presents a robust method for controlling the terrestrial motion of a bimodal multirotor vehicle that can roll and fly. Factors influencing the mobility and controllability of the vehicle are explored and compared to strictly flying multirotor vehicles; the differences motivate novel control and control allocation strategies that leverage the non-standard configuration of the bimodal design. A fifth-order dynamic model of the vehicle subject to kinematic rolling constraints is the basis for a nonlinear, multi-input, multi-output, sliding mode controller. Constrained optimization techniques are used to develop a novel control allocation strategy that minimizes power consumption while rolling. Simulations of the vehicle under closed-loop control are presented. A functional hardware embodiment of the vehicle is constructed onto which the controllers and control allocation algorithm are deployed. Experimental data of the vehicle under closed-loop control demonstrate good performance and robustness to parameter uncertainty. Data collected also demonstrate that the control allocation algorithm correctly determines a thrust-minimizing solution in real-time.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- May 17, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.1115/1.4050998
Entities
People
- Gregory Buckner
- Matthew Bryant
- Stefan Atay
Organizations
- Army Research Office
- North Carolina State University