Quad-Tilting Rotor Convertible MAV: Modeling and Real-Time Hover Flight Control

This paper describes the modeling, control and hardware implementation of an experimental tilt-rotor aircraft. This vehicle combines the high-speed cruise capabilities of a conventional airplane with the hovering capabilities of a helicopter by tilting their four rotors. Changing between cruise and hover flight modes in mid-air is referred to transition. Dynamic model of the vehicle is derived both for vertical and horizontal flight modes using Newtonian approach. Two nonlinear control strategies are presented and evaluated at simulation level to control, the vertical and horizontal flight dynamics of the vehicle in the longitudinal plane. An experimental prototype named Quad-plane was developed to perform the vertical flight. A low-cost DSP-based Embedded Flight Control System (EFCS) was designed and built to achieve autonomous attitude-stabilized flight.