Description:

This MSc project aims to develop an advanced control design algorithm for a coaxial tilt-rotor octocopter, a complex unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with eight rotors arranged in four coaxial pairs that can tilt.

The project will involve simulation studies, hardware implementation, and extensive flight testing to validate the proposed control approach. The successful completion of this project will contribute to the advancement of highly manoeuvrable and efficient UAV systems.

Note that the physical platform has been developed as part of a current MSc project.

Objectives:

The research will focus on:

• Deriving a comprehensive mathematical model of the octocopter's dynamics
• Designing robust control algorithms to handle the vehicle's complex, coupled dynamics
• Optimising the control strategy for various flight modes, including vertical takeoff and landing, hover, and forward flight
• Implementing and testing the control system in a high-fidelity simulation environment
• Implementing the control scheme on the physical platform

Key skills/interests:

Mathematical modelling, control design, path planning, programming and simulation.

Expected outputs:

1x MSc (Eng), 1x Journal/Conference paper in a leading publication.

Supervisor:

Arnold Pretorius

Student:

Mpilo Nxasana