Design, Development, and Testing of Package Delivery Quadrotor Biplane Tail-Sitter

Abstract

This Paper explores the development of a novel hybrid air vehicle for package delivery called the quadrotor biplane tail-sitter. This vehicle uses differential thrust to effect body attitude changes like a traditional quadrotor, ensuring full transitional control between hover and forward flight modes. This method of control also allows the vehicle to remain mechanically simple. A vehicle was designed with a 1 lb (0.45 kg) payload, resulting in an 8 lb (3.63 kg) gross takeoff weight. The vehicle can hover using 15 in. (0.381 m) diameter proprotors and has two wings that span 3.35 ft (1.03 m), which provide lift in forward flight. Sensors were implemented onboard the vehicle to monitor individual dc brushless motor revolutions per minute, body attitude angles, electrical power consumption, and airspeed relative to wind. Stable hover was demonstrated with package delivery, and it was found that 18% less power was used when hovering with no payload compared to full payload. Package delivery was also successfully demonstrated after transitioning from hover to forward flight and back. In forward flight mode with no payload, the power consumption at a forward flight speed of () was seen to be 50% less than the power consumed in hover.