A Hybrid Tricopter/Flying-Wing VTOL UAV

Abstract

This paper details 1.5 years of work toward creating a fully-autonomous robotic aircraft with the best qualities of both a xed-wing and multicopter vehicle con guration. The vehicle was designed from the beginning with the goal for it to become a fully open-source platform; the design being free to the public to modify and improve. It features a standardized mounting-hole grid pattern for future attachments and modules, a novel oating front cassette assembly, and other design features. The methodology used to design and build the vehicle is described, including planform and rotor con guration, motor and propeller selection, wing geometry and airfoil selection, and other design optimizations. PID controller topology, ight controller software architecture, and video telemetry electronics are also described. Flight testing results are given, and future implementation of a solar energy harvesting system, ground locomotion mechanism, and other advanced features are also described for further work.