Design and flight testing of an autonomous variable-pitch quadrotor

Abstract

This video submission presents a design concept of an autonomous variable-pitch quadrotor with constant motor speed. The main aim of this work is to increase the maneuverability of the quadrotor vehicle concept while largely maintaining its mechanical simplicity. This added maneuverability will allow autonomous agile maneuvers like inverted hover and flip. A custom in lab built quadrotor with onboard attitude stabilization is developed and tested in the ACL's (Aerospace Controls Laboratory) RAVEN (Real-time indoor Autonomous Vehicle test ENvironment). Initial flight results show that the quadrotor is capable of waypoint tracking and hovering both upright and inverted.