Hey,
during the past year, a friend of mine and myself constructed a VTOL UAV i wanted to share with you guys. Basically, its a mix between a quadcopter and a regular airplane. It's similar to VTOL technologies Ltd's “Flying Wing”, but instead of having its “rotatable motors” at the end of its wings, the motor modules are located next to the fuselage, and most importantly “in front” and “behind” the wing itself. That way we are trying to achieve the highest possible aspect ratio and lift. In case that explanation didn't make all too much sense, the pictures should be of greater help.
and Version 2.1 (experimental version), H-Tail section
Concerning the flight controller, we used the Ardupilot Mega and the ArdupiratesNG code, which was slightly modified in order to account for the rotatable motors.
Some videos of it “in action”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a5ykFanB1k (motors only slightly tilted)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T537eGYjpWU (slightly tilted motors, transition between the two flight stages)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OONxCFcYI4A (almost fully tilted motors, fast flight)
A link to our project page, showing detailed pictures of the tilting mechanism:
http://www.wingcopter.com/html/schwenkarm.html
Its only available in german at the moment, but im working on an english version. The pictures should sufficiently explain the mechanism though; if that isnt the case, feel free to ask.
The plane has seen two versions so far, each one having been modified many, many times ;).
It's flight is pretty stable right now, however there are still some tricky little problems that have to be addressed.
I just thought I might share our project and find out what you guys think about it.
Regards,
Andy
Ps: I wasnt quite sure in which sub-forum to post this; I hope this one is fine. If someone think differently, please let me know and I might kindly ask a mod to move it.
Replies
Which software did you used to configure everything, the flight modes, etc.???
and how did you made the VTOL firmware???
are you using a modified quadcopter code or an entirely new code ???
That is awesome. Just wondering, what props and motors did you use? How long is your flight time hovering/plane flying? I am putting together ideas from a similar plane/quadcopter.
That's pretty cool, are the props providing lift all the time? The motors don't tilt at all do they?