optimized design and control of a vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (VTOL UAV)

The CargoCopter project concerns design, control and automatic landing of unmanned aerial vehicles capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL UAVs). Speed, endurance and payload capacity are optimized for designs with a combination of wings and propellers for lift and thrust generation. In the summer of 2014, the VertiKUL, a first proof of concept, proved to have double speed and efficiency compared to conventional designs. Due to media attention, several parties contacted KU Leuven to discuss possible collaborations or out of interest for the next steps in the project. Next two years the design optimization is extended to include larger wind robustness while the control is extended to greater reliability and autonomy. Aiming at further commercialization, a concept demonstration of fully automated aerial transportation concludes the project.

Keywords:unmanned aerial vehicle

Disciplines:Control systems, robotics and automation, Design theories and methods, Mechatronics and robotics, Computer theory