Next-Gen VTOL UAS Design (2022-2023)

A novel wing-foldable VTOL tail-sitter design with double-swashplate.

Project Overview

This project focuses on the development of a next-generation VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) unmanned aircraft system, conducted at Texas A&M University’s Advanced Vertical Flight Laboratory under the supervision of Prof. Moble Benedict. This project is my undergraduate capstone project. The ultimate goal of this project is to design a small-footprint VTOL UAS that can be used for long-endurance missions.

Phase 1: Full-scale Conceptual Design (Sept 2022 - Dec 2022)

The initial phase focused on the theoretical design and realization of a next-generation long-endurance VTOL unmanned aircraft. Key accomplishments include:

  • Led the flight dynamics modeling sub-team and developed control laws
  • Successfully demonstrated transition flights between fixed-wing and hovering modes in Simulink simulation
  • Derived equations of motion and developed a 2D nonlinear longitudinal dynamic simulation
  • Validated transition flight capabilities using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) data
Left: Full-scale conceptual design of the VTOL tail-sitter. Right: Dynamic simulation of the VTOL tail-sitter showing transition flight capabilities.

Phase 2: Scaled Prototype Development (Jan 2023 - May 2023)

The second phase involved creating a scaled prototype to validate the design concepts:

  • Led a 20-person team in design, fabrication, and flight testing of a 4-lb subscale prototype (I was the chief engineer)
  • Implemented a double-swashplate-based control system with wing-folding capability
  • Integrated control logics using ELKA (Embedded Lightweight Kinematic Autopilot)
  • Successfully demonstrated indoor hovering with mid-flight wing deployment
Left: The components of the VTOL tail-sitter. Right: Physical prototype during testing.
Swashplate mechanism of the VTOL tail-sitter.
Flight test demonstrating hovering capabilities and stable vertical flight control of the scaled VTOL tail-sitter prototype.

Conclusion

The project successfully demonstrated the feasibility of a novel VTOL tail-sitter design incorporating wing-folding mechanisms and double-swashplate control. The prototype validated both hovering capabilities and successful wing deployment during flight.