A Mobile Landing Platform for Miniature Vertical Take-Off and Landing Vehicles

Miniature vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicles have limited range of operations mainly due to their limited payload capacities and power availability. To increase this range, a modified unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) is used to transport the VTOL to its target area serving as an on-site take-off/landing and possibly refueling base. A gimbaled landing platform design is proposed and the necessary equations are derived to level the platform despite of the pose (roll, pitch, yaw) of the UGV. To increase UGV endurance, a solar array is used and solar tracking capabilities for performance maximization are examined. Simulations are carried out to check the validity of the design. The case of an ATRV-Jr as the UGV base and a Raptor 90SE as the VTOL is investigated, but the design is generic enough and suitable for other UGV/VTOL vehicles