Early stages of a TiltCopter

Today everybody and their dog seem to be working on a quad project. And with my own quad having reached a relatively mature stage with stable flight some time ago, I thought it would be nice to try something different.

So inspired by the full-size Osprey tilt rotor design I just started an experimental duo/tilt copter build. Frankly I am far from sure if it will ever fly, but that is what makes it fun!

Mechanical:

My tilt design is one I used in an earlier tri-copter build. I insert a 8mm CF rods into a 750x10,5mm CF square tube and glued then together. A modified T-Rex 600 blade-holder is then inserted on the 8mm tube and fastened using glue. Finally a servo is epoxied at the side of the square tube and linked to the 600 blade-holder. Motor and ESC is a cheap TowerPro combo from HobbyKing. Cheap and easy to replace when experimenting, and the ESC has no problem handling 333mhz PWM pulses.

Hardware / software:
For control and stabilization I will use the same hardware that I used in a Quad I built earlier. A FASST R617FS receiver modified with PPM output, and the ArduIMU V2 board with custom software for stabilization and servo/ESC control.

Main body / tail:
I have yet to decide what I will do for a main body. At the very least I will need some kind of tail with a lift surface to get some balancing momentum in the pitch axis, and tail drag when in forward flight. Lots of fun experimenting to be done!

Parts:
Carbon Fiber Square Tube 750x10.5mm
Carbon Fiber Tube (hollow) 8x750mm
Align T-Rex 600 Blade holders and bearings
Turnigy S3101S Servo 17g / 2.5kg / .14sec
TowerPro BM2410-9T / 18A BEC/ 1047 Prop Combo
Futaba FASST R117FS receiver
ArduIMU+ V2 (Flat)

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Comments

Will June 2, 2011 at 12:21pm

John, have you made any progress with your tiltcopter? I'm interested in building a similar model and wanted to know if you have worked out the controls or written any code for the Arducopter?
Michael Lingg August 5, 2010 at 10:36am

You might find this interesting as to pitch control of a tilt copter: http://baronshobbies.com/2009/08/gress-aero-bi-rotor-vtol-aircraft-...
Darren August 2, 2010 at 6:07pm

main reason for bulk of the fuse, is commonly used for payload. as flying sticks are common :) but I do agree it can and does assist in the balancing act of transition to foward flight.
Moderator

Gary Mortimer August 2, 2010 at 1:58am

Your building a Gress
Developer

John Arne Birkeland August 1, 2010 at 1:51pm

In theory... and also hopefully in practice you pitch by tilting both motors forward or backwards. With both motors tilted forwards the nose is pulled down and the craft starts to move forward. To make this controllable you will need some body mass along the pitch axis to act as an balancing pole, and CoG to be centered under the motors. The gyroscopic effect generated by the propellers should also help stabilize the pitch axis. But yes, I am not expecting this to be easy. The whole concept in one big balancing act. :)
Darren August 1, 2010 at 8:51am

Sorry the graphic didnt come through, here is a pic of the Samson.
Darren August 1, 2010 at 8:45am

I was thinking of starting a Modified Quad along these lines as well, but using two of these on the tilt setup.

Was thinking of going for something along one of these... Which may give you some ideas on the tail.
Developer

John Arne Birkeland August 1, 2010 at 8:05am

@Mike: Yes, that is pretty much how I will build it as a test platform for hovering and initial transition into forward flight. But eventually I plan to add wings so that I can convert fully into horizontal flight. If you squint you can see the Gress bicopter as a Osprey V-22 without wings.
Developer

John Arne Birkeland July 31, 2010 at 11:02pm

When I used the ArduIMU together with GPS in a airplane I had problems with the pitch being affected by acceleration and deceleration. Also if I turned the plane against the wind hanging on it so that ground speed approached zero, the IMU would sometimes go into a oscillating feedback loop. I do not see the need for a tail gyro since I already have that gyro axis in the ArduIMU. My initial setup will most likely be a body with a fixed T tail. The elevator surface will be angeled so that forward motion will pitch up the nose to combat the forward tilted motors pulling the nose down.
Developer

Jani Hirvinen July 31, 2010 at 10:43pm

John could you explain a bit more about your problems with DCM when hovering.. What type of problems you have seen?

You plan to have small heli gyro on tail on your first body?? I think that would be good idea and then you don't need to worry so much about tail in this point :)

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