Design and Modeling of Actuation System of Unmanned Tricopter with Thrust-Vectoring Front Tilt Rotors for Sustainable Flying

Tilt rotor aircrafts combine the advantages of the long mileage of fixed-wing airplanes and the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities of rotorcrafts by using tiltable rotors. However, tilt rotor aircrafts suffer from poor autorotation performance and landing stabilitiy. This work proposes an alternative actuation configuration of a tricopter tilt rotor aircraft that aims to optimize the flight duration, VTOL capabilities and stability control. The proposed configuration employs two front tilt rotors that are able to provide thrust-vectoring control with the addition of a fixed tail rotor that produces upward thrust. Dynamic modeling of the proposed actuation configuration is developed to provide insights on how different motions (hovering, ascending, descending, rotating and airplane-like flying) are achieved by manipulating the amounts of thrusts and rotor tilt angles. Preliminary prototype as well as the electronic and control systems are developed and discussed. Proposed configuration has the potential to achieve more sustainable flying.