MICRO QUADCOPTER MODELLING AND SIMULATIONS AS AIRCRAFT INSPECTION DRONE

• Main Author: Asyrof, Annisa
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/51344
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Micro quadcopter is a rotary-wing type of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that includes two sets of counter-rotating rotors. Since 2018, the Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (FTMD) Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) has been developing a micro quadcopter, one of which is to carry out visual inspection missions an aircraft. This final project is conducted to develop a mathematical model of such micro quadcopter in its six degrees of freedom using the Simulink / MATLAB software. The mathematical model used for control system design, stability analysis, and vehicle flight performance analysis. Furthermore, a simple automatic control design is also conducted to automatically adjust the height, as well as the surging and swaying movement of the quadcopter in carrying out its mission. Several simulations for visual inspection missions of the aircraft in the hangar were carried out in several parts of an aircraft, namely on the upper side of the wing, the upper side of the horizontal tail, the vertical tail, and the fuselage. The inspection path is determined at the outset based on the capabilities of the cameras used by the micro quadcopter. In this case, 96 waypoints are required for wing inspection with a total range of 99.37 m. the simulation results is then compared with the flight path plans that have been made. Several simulation results in cruise and hover conditions show that the micro quadcopter performs well in terms of stability, control system, and flight performance. This indicates that the micro quadcopter has the potential be used for an aircraft visual inspection missions. Further research on the micro quadcopter control, however, is still required, especially since the vertical motion still shows a poor performance, where the quadrotor oscillates within more than 1 meter of height, showing a risk of hitting the inspected aircraft.