Control requirements for future gas turbine-powered unmanned drones: JetQuads

Date

2018-12-19

Supervisor/s

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

MDPI

Department

Type

Article

ISSN

2076-3417

Format

Free to read from

Citation

Soheil Jafari, Seyed Alireza Miran Fashandi and Theoklis Nikolaidi. Control requirements for future gas turbine-powered unmanned drones: JetQuads. Applied Sciences, 2018, Volume 8, Issue 12, Article number 2675

Abstract

The next generation of aerial robots will be utilized extensively in real-world applications for different purposes: Delivery, entertainment, inspection, health and safety, photography, search and rescue operations, fire detection, and use in hazardous and unreachable environments. Thus, dynamic modeling and control of drones will play a vital role in the growth phase of this cutting-edge technology. This paper presents a systematic approach for control mode identification of JetQuads (gas turbine-powered quads) that should be satisfied simultaneously to achieve a safe and optimal operation of the JetQuad. Using bond graphs as a powerful mechatronic tool, a modular model of a JetQuad including the gas turbine, electric starter, and the main body was developed and validated against publicly available data. Two practical scenarios for thrust variation as a function of time were defined to investigate the compatibility and robustness of the JetQuad. The simulation results of these scenarios confirmed the necessity of designing a compatibility control loop, a stability control loop, and physical limitation control loops for the safe and errorless operation of the system. A control structure with its associated control algorithm is also proposed to deal with future challenges in JetQuad control problems.

Description

Software Description

Software Language

Github

Keywords

JetQuad, bond graph, future drones, gas turbine engines, control requirements, control modes, control structure design

DOI

Rights

Attribution 4.0 International

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