-Independent Study & Mentorship: Aerospace Engineering-

“Foldable Tricopter With A Rotating Tail Thruster”

Brian Kim

Brian Kim
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Walters

ISM

20 December 2018

Original Work

Just in the last decade, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or drones, have seen a meteoric rise to

popularity, being widely used for filming, racing, military surveillance, or even delivering

packages to your front door. However, many companies opt to use traditional quadcopters, which

by design, aren’t very agile with a payload since all of its forward momentum comes from tilting

itself forward along its pitch axis. This inherently causes instability when turning, as the yaw,

pitch, and roll axis are working against each other on level plane, and inefficiency when

compared to a tricopter because of the extra motor that pushes the drone.

However, quadcopter flight controls are much easier to manage than others like that of a

tricopter, and because of its redundancy of motors, quadcopters are able to stay in the air even if

one of the motors loses function. So, for my original work, I’ve decided to design and build my

own tricopter so I could understand its flight dynamics and so I could become more familiar with

the components and programs needed in the future, as well as challenge myself.
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The first part of the project was to find the components that I would need and making sure each

part was compatible with each other. These parts included, but were not limited to: motors,

propellers, electronic speed controllers, servos, radio receiver, radio transmitter, battery, body

materials, tilt mechanisms, and the flight control board. For each, these different aspects had to

be examined and deemed compatible as a unit.

1. Motors: kv rating, voltage intake, amperage intake, connection type, number of

connections, thrust output, brushed/brushless.

2. Propellers: Length, width, girth, clockwise/counterclockwise, material, type (slow fly,

racing, variable pitch, etc.)

3. Electronic Speed Controllers (ESCs): Program to be flashed into the hardware, constant

amperage, burst amperage, connection type, inclusion of a battery eliminator circuit

(directs voltage taken in to other components while keeping its main power current

constant, basically serving as a two-in-one connector), and processing power.

4. Servos: Maximum torque, degree of freedom, amperage, connection type, physical

dimensions, gear type, digital/manual, and buffer time.

5. Receivers: Range, connection type, voltage limit.

6. Transmitters: Range, number of channels, hardware compatibility.

7. Battery: Capacity in mAh, constant amperage, burst amperage, number of cells, voltage,

connection type, level of impedance. (This was the most important part because powering

the other components relied heavily on the battery’s capabilities.)

8. Body Materials: Shock resistance, ease of modification, price.

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9. Tilt Mechanisms: Size, availability.

10. Flight control board: Amperage, maximum voltage intake, connection types, screen/no

screen, size, incorporation of gyros and stabilizers, processing power.

After doing my research and consulting drone experts in my area, I was finally able to pick out

the best parts for my project. I ordered most of the parts online, and it took nearly a month to get

to my house because they were from China. In the meantime, my work was solely focused on

developing C++ code for the flight control board. I’ve only taught myself Java over the summer

and was not an expert in coding by any means, so I used a program called MATLAB, which

converts all of my matrices and calculations in to code, which I can use to flash the flight control

board with. Using physics intuition and months of researching the fluid dynamics of each rotor, I

was able to create a rough model flight controller, which I tested using an application called

Simulink. Simulink takes data and commands from MATLAB and puts it into a simulation in

which you can test different factors such as wind in the form of resistance, area of enclosement

by setting distance limits, and even motor failure by pausing a function to see how your UAV

would take it in its current state. This was by far the most tedious part of the entire project,

however, I believe that going through it now was a great decision because MATLAB and

simulink are used everywhere in tech schools and careers. It’s the same pair of software that

NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon have previously used in a project’s “beta”

stages before moving to supercomputers once fully committed, which was more than enough

credentials to get me to learn how to use them.

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For actually building the tricopter frame, I used beech wood, which is incredibly sturdy, shock-

resistant, and most of all, cheap. I had to calculate the center of mass of the system, ensure that

the tricopter fits into a circular model (that is, all three of its arms make a perfect tangent line to

the imaginary circle that stems from its center of mass), ensure that it has enough room for all of

the components, and that all the arms form 120 degree angle with respect to each other to ensure

even thrust. I cut and sanded the wood myself because drone frames are expensive, and were not

exactly what I was looking for. Making identical pieces posed a bit of a challenge as I was using

a hacksaw, but with enough measuring and sanding, I was able to replicate each part with nearly

identical masses. Additionally, connecting components was not too challenging because I was

already familiar with soldering from modifying my electric guitar, and all that was required was

some background knowledge on how to approach cold solders, cutting connections to modify

them, and basic safety precautions.

I believe that this original work has pushed me out of my comfort zone a considerable amount,

and that it has introduced me to skills that I would inevitably need in the future as I pursue a

career in aerospace engineering. Having hands on experience while applying classroom

knowledge was eye-opening and exciting, as I saw a glimpse of what lies ahead. The UAV’s

compact nature, unmatched maneuverability, and stability at all points of flight makes it an

attractive option for flight in the future, perhaps even scaling up for commercial use.

Sources:
https://developer.dji.com/mobile-sdk/documentation/introduction/flightController_concepts.html
https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=ucin1470672220&disposition=inline