Abstract
This paper introduces for the first time the design, modelling, and control of a novel morphing multi-rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that we call the OmniMorph. The morphing ability allows the selection of the configuration that optimizes energy consumption while ensuring the needed maneuverability for the required task. The most energy-efficient uni-directional thrust (UDT) configuration can be used, e.g., during standard point-to-point displacements. Fully-actuated (FA) and omnidirectional (OD) configurations can be instead used for full pose tracking, such as, e.g., constant attitude horizontal motions and full rotations on the spot, and for full wrench 6D interaction control and 6D disturbance rejection. Morphing is obtained using a single servomotor, allowing possible minimization of weight, costs, and maintenance complexity. The actuation properties are studied, and an optimal controller that compromises between performance and control effort is proposed and validated in realistic simulations. Preliminary tests on the prototype are presented to assess the propellers’ mutual aerodynamic interference.
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Code Availability
Data sets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Gianluca Corsini for contributing to the simulator and Aaron Saini for the code to plot the feasible force sets.
Funding
This work was partially funded by European Commission projects Horizon2020 AUTOASSESS (101120732) and MSCA project Flyflic (101059875).
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Y. Aboudorra contributed to deriving the modeling, the control law, designing the simulator, and writing the manuscript, as well as to the background literature research. C. Gabellieri contributed to the theoretical analysis, controller implementation, and manuscript writing, as well as to the background literature research; she worked on the simulation results and the multimedia files. R. Brantjes contributed to testing the prototype and to the manuscript writing. Q. Sablé contributed to the OmniMorph design and to building and testing the prototype. A. Franchi is the initiator of the OmniMorph research idea, he did the fundraising and is the PI of the research project. He contributed to the modeling and the control law, and to the manuscript writing, as well as to the background literature research.
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Aboudorra, Y., Gabellieri, C., Brantjes, R. et al. Modelling, Analysis, and Control of OmniMorph: an Omnidirectional Morphing Multi-rotor UAV. J Intell Robot Syst 110, 21 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-024-02054-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-024-02054-x