Terrain-adaptive Bionic Landing Gear System Design for Multi-Rotor UAVs

Abstract

Nowadays the multi-rotor UAVs are used a lot in military and civilian fields and which are playing an increasingly important role. However, the fixed support frames made of metal or composite material acting as landing gears are widely used on the multi-rotor UAVs, which have shortages and can’t be applied to the landing environment with uneven terrain. So a new kind of terrain-adaptive bionic landing gear is proposed in this article with the function of adapting complex terrains and makes the multi-motor UAVs landing on rough terrain, great slope and step floor. The composition and designing principles of the system are introduced at first. Based on the working process, the design method of one-leg system is detailed described as a basic part, and the kinematic solution of multi-leg system is also based on this through coordinate transform. And through virtual simulation, laboratory debugging and flight test, the feasibility and correctness of the design are shown at last. From the jobs in this article, the terrain-adaptive landing gear can be successfully used on multi-rotor UAVs when landing on some complex terrain through adjusting the orientation of the legs. Compared to the traditional design forms, the design has important engineering application value.