Preliminary design optimisation of a novel fixed-tilt heterogeneous UAV for horizontal agility

The ability of multirotor UAVs to station keep accurately is essential for a variety of commercial applications. This work presents a heterogeneous configuration to offer the potential for improved horizontal agility over homogeneous designs by reducing the coupling between endurance and agility. The heterogeneous configuration examined is an overactuated design with two different rotors and fixed-tilt rotors. Off-the-shelf components are used, requiring discrete design variables. Constraints were added to ensure the optimal UAV produced by the optimisation would produce a minimum amount of horizontal force and can carry a certain payload for a set amount of time to ensure it will be able to perform its mission. Modifications to the parameter sweep process are introduced to reduce the computational cost of the discrete optimisation. The optimal heterogeneous design has a 54% higher horizontal force bandwidth than a homogeneous design optimised with the same requirements. The computational cost is reduced by more than 99% through modifications to the parameter sweep process compared to the unmodified parameter sweep, where every design variable combination is tested.