Aerodynamic Effects Compensation on Multi-Rotor UAVs Based on a Neural Network Control Allocation Approach

This paper shows that the aerodynamic effects can be compensated in a quadrotor system by means of a control allocation approach using neural networks.Thus,the system performance can be improved by replacing the classic allocation matrix,without using the aerodynamic inflow equations directly.The network training is performed offline,which requires low computational power.The target system is a Parrot MAMBO drone whose flight control is composed of PD-PID controllers followed by the proposed neural network control allocation algorithm.Such a quadrotor is particularly susceptible to the aerodynamics effects of interest to this work,because of its small size.We compared the mechanical torques commanded by the flight controller,i.e.,the control input,to those actually generated by the actuators and established at the aircraft.It was observed that the proposed neural network was able to closely match them,while the classic allocation matrix could not achieve that.The allocation error was also determined in both cases.Furthermore,the closed-loop performance also improved with the use of the proposed neural network control allocation,as well as the quality of the thrust and torque signals,in which we perceived a much less noisy behavior.

Chemical Control of Ceratovacuna lanigera Zehntner with Multi-rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

[Objective] The paper was to explore chemical control of Ceratovacuna lanigera Zehntner with multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle. [Method] According to the outbreak characteristics of C. lanigera,multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle was applied for flying control test. Referred to the spraying characteristics of multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle,two kinds of microcapsule pesticides,ALV-1501 and ALV-1502,and two kinds of spraying additives,SPA-01 and SPA-02,were designed to control C. lanigera. [Result] The control effect of ALV-1501 at the dose of 2. 25 L/hm;was 60. 02% at 1 d post administration and 54. 14%at 5 d post administration; the control effects of ALV-1502 at the dose of 2. 1 L/hm2 were 76. 35% and 81. 35% at 1 and 5 d post administration,respectively.Compared to individual pesticide,the control effects of ALV-1501 were improved 1. 42-1. 47 times and 1. 16-1. 14 times by adding 0. 6 L/hm;SPA-01 and SPA-02 in pesticide liquid,respectively. The control effects of ALV-1502 were improved 1. 23-1. 25 times and 1. 15-1. 16 times by adding 0. 6 L/hm2 SPA-01 and SPA-02,respectively. The control effects against C. lanigera at three flying speeds of 3,5 and 8 m/s were 99. 72%-99. 97%,81. 6%-99. 81% and63. 52%-68. 77%,respectively. [Conclusion]The results will provide a reference for application of multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle in prevention and control of C. lanigera in sugarcane field.

Rotor cross-tilt optimization for yaw control improvement of multi-rotor eVTOL aircraft

Manned multi-rotor electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing(eVTOL)aircraft is prone to actuator saturation due to its weak yaw control efficiency.To address this inherent problem,a rotor cross-tilt configuration is applied in this paper,with an optimization method proposed to improve the overall control efficiency of the vehicle.First,a flight dynamics model of a 500-kg manned multi-rotor eVTOL aircraft is established.The accuracy of the co-axial rotor model is verified using a single arm test bench,and the accuracy of the flight dynamics model is verified by the flight test data.Then,an optimization method is designed based on the flight dynamics model to calculate an optimal rotor cross-tilt mounting angle,which not only improves the yaw control efficiency,but also basically maintains the efficiency of other control channels.The ideal rotor cross-tilt mounting angle for the prototype is determined by comprehensively considering the optimal results with different payloads,forward flight speeds,and rotor mounting angle errors.Finally,the feasibility of the rotor cross-tilt mounting angle is proved by analyzing the control derivatives of the flight dynamics model,the test data of a ground three Degree-of-Freedom(3DOF)platform,and the actual flight data of the prototype.The results show that a fixed rotor cross-tilt mounting angle can achieve ideal yaw control effectiveness,improving yaw angle tracking and hold ability,increasing endurance time,and achieving good yaw control performance with different payloads and forward speeds.

基于小型多旋翼无人飞行器的新型消防救援作战体系研究

从小型多旋翼无人飞行器进入消防部队装备序列的服役现状出发,对其在灭火和抢险救援工作中的装备建设思路进行了阐述,并提出了一种新型消防救援作战体系,加强人员、车辆和模块化多旋翼的联用,以期能为实战提供帮助。

Adaptive Attitude Control for Multi-MUAV Systems With Output Dead-Zone and Actuator Fault

Many mechanical parts of multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle(MUAV)can easily produce non-smooth phenomenon and the external disturbance that affects the stability of MUAV.For multi-MUAV attitude systems that experience output dead-zone,external disturbance and actuator fault,a leader-following consensus anti-disturbance and fault-tolerant control(FTC)scheme is proposed in this paper.In the design process,the effect of unknown nonlinearity in multi-MUAV systems is addressed using neural networks(NNs).In order to balance out the effects of external disturbance and actuator fault,a disturbance observer is designed to compensate for the aforementioned negative impacts.The Nussbaum function is used to address the problem of output dead-zone.The designed fault-tolerant controller guarantees that the output signals of all followers and leader are synchronized by the backstepping technique.Finally,the effectiveness of the control scheme is verified by simulation experiments.

Test and evaluation method for endurance performance of electric multi-rotors spraying drones

The endurance performance(EP)of electric multi-rotors spraying drones(EMSDs)is a key technical indicator that ensures the completion of tasks and improves their usefulness.To improve the EP of current EMSD,a test system was designed to determine the EP based on the EMSD test platform,and the performance evaluation method was studied.Firstly,a test model was established to determine the equivalent energy dissipation using the performance-testing platform of the EMSD.Secondly,a multisensory test system was constructed.An attitude sensor,high-power DC power supply,infrared thermal imager,and serial port server were selected.The mounting fixture was designed to meet the universal mounting requirements of drone.In addition,the software LabVIEW was employed to program the code for the controller and the host computer,where functions such as data collection,data processing,communication,and graphical user interface(GUI),were performed reliably in real time.Thirdly,the test method was explored by considering factors such as the power consumption,thermal efficiency ratio,and unit load power consumption rate.In particular,a comprehensive index method and expert consultation weight method were used to evaluate the EP of the EMSD with multiple indexes.Finally,a systematic real-machine test was carried out on the three types of drones that are currently widely used in the market.The results verified the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method,which was employed to test and evaluate the EP based on the EMSD performance testing platform.At the same time,it can provide a reference for the development of the EMSD.

Droplets movement and deposition of an eight-rotor agricultural UAV in downwash flow field

The movement and deposition of the droplets sprayed by agricultural unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)are influenced by the complex downwash flow field of the rotors.Instead of conducting field experiment,a high speed particle image velocimetry(PIV)method was used to measure the movement and deposition of the droplets at different rotating speeds of rotors(1000-3000 r/min)or at different transverse injecting points(20-50 cm away from its nearby rotors)in the downwash flow field of an agricultural UAV with eight rotors and conical nozzles.The maximum speed and size of the high speed zone of the droplets were found greatly influenced by the downwash velocity.The initial spray angle of the nozzle declined with the increase of downwash flow speed.It was found that the downwash velocity could not only change the deposition zone of the droplets,but also influence their distribution.The increase of the downwash velocity would increase the deposition uniformity of the droplets.The nozzle position in the downwash flow field could also influence the deposition of the droplets.When the transverse distance between the nozzle and its nearby rotors increased,the relative deposition near the downwash flow of the rotors increased simultaneously.However,the distance between the deposition peak and the nozzle stayed constant.The initial spray angle of the nozzle was not influenced by the transverse distance between the nozzle and its nearby rotors.The research results could provide a theoretical basis and reference for the optimization of the spray application of multi-rotor UAV to minimize droplets deposition uncertainty.

Modelling operation parameters of UAV on spray effects at different growth stages of corns

Currently,unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs)were widely applied to spray for pest and disease control.However,spray effect can be further improved by setting operation parameters more reasonably and scientifically.Therefore,this study attempts to derive the relationship between operation parameters and spray effect.Different growth stages were distinguished by various corn heights.A six-rotor UAV was operated at different heights and velocities to test pesticides spray effects for corns at different growth stages.Different plant canopy coverage rate and penetrating coefficients were obtained,according to which,the effects on droplet deposition rate caused by different UAVs’operation parameters were analyzed.Droplet penetrating coefficients were applied as indexes to evaluate and select UAVs operation parameters for corns at different growth stages respectively.Mathematical models of droplet penetrating coefficients with UAVs operation parameters were established for corns at all growth stages.The determination coefficients(R2)of all models were greater than 0.90 and average relative errors were within 20%,which asserted high forecasting accuracy of droplet penetrating rate.With the help of the models,parameters like operating height away from the bottom of corns and UAVs velocities were further analyzed,which guided the optimization of parameter settings and selection of spray methods for corns at different growth stages.

Design and test of a six-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)electrostatic spraying system for crop protection

In recent years,multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)crop protection operations have experienced tremendous growth.Compared with manual operations,they have advantages such as high operational efficiency,small pesticide dosage,and low pesticide hazards for humans.However,the tiny droplets produced during UAV spraying for crop protection are affected by the rotor air flow and will drift in all directions in an uncontrollable manner,severely affecting the pesticide deposition pattern and resulting in pesticide waste.To improve pesticide use efficiency during multi-rotor UAV spraying,an electrostatic spray system was designed based on electrostatic spray technology and a six-rotor UAV.The proper operation parameters for the UAV electrostatic spray were determined by test,which were spray altitude of 50 cm above the crop,spray pressure of 0.3 MPa and charging voltage of 9 kV.Field test was performed based on these parameters.The results showed that compared with non-electrostatic spray,the electrostatic spray improved by 13.6%in the average deposition density above the sampling device and 32.6%in the middle.The research can provide a reference for designing multi-rotor UAV electrostatic spray devices.

Model migration for CFD and verification of a six-rotor UAV downwash

Currently,Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)has been used to investigate agricultural UAV downwash.However,the validations of CFD models are difficult to deal with.Current verification methods are to use either water-sensitive papers or wind-speed arrays,which could get wind distribution or speed only.In this study,model migration was used to develop and verify downwash CFD models.The basic idea is to try to use the results of a scaled-down drone to represent that of a real-used UAV.The CFD models of both a real-used six-rotor UAV,JF01-10,and a 1:10 scaled-down small drone were developed by ANSYS.Then,the scaled-down drone was utilized to conduct trials by particle image velocimetry(PIV),so that not only distribution and speed but also flowing direction of downwash could be obtained.Results indicated the relative error between the PIV tests and the CFD models of the small UAV was less than 12%,while that between the tests and the CFD models of JF01-10 was less than 34%.It could be indicated that model migration could reflect multiple downwash characteristics but should be optimized in some complex details.This study was a preliminary but fundamental attempt to investigate CFD modelling and validation of agricultural UAVs and provided a novel thinking of downwash verification.