Design of an Experimental Test Bench for a UAV Type Convertiplane

Abstract

This paper deals with the design of a test bench for an unnamed aerial vehicle UAV type convertiplane with controlled electric drives and tilt rotors (propellers) executed on a quadcopter pattern. This experimental test bench provides an intermediate step between simulation process and real time flight of the UAV, it allows to test its and evaluate solutions in safe and controllable environment conditions. Thus, the development of methods of state estimation and control UAV becomes possible, in addition the developed system can be used for teaching about the basis of automatic control in multirotor aerial vehicles. The test bench presented in this paper contains a convertiplane type quadcopter attached on the base through a universal joint which let the UAV be able to rotate around plane axes x and y, while the vertical axis z is fixed, in turn this part of the system is fixed through a bar connected with a linear guideway block that moves over a linear guide which depends of the generated lifting force by the UAV. To determinate the travelled road of the system and the different parameters of the behavior of the convertiplane it has been also implemented a measuring system.