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Projecte llegit

Títol: Realisitic VTOL simulator

Estudiants que han llegit aquest projecte:

Director/a: ROJAS GREGORIO, JOSEP IGNASI

Departament: FIS

Títol: Realisitic VTOL simulator

Data inici oferta: 31-01-2020     Data finalització oferta: 01-02-2020


Estudis d'assignació del projecte:
    MU DRONS
Tipus: Individual
 
Lloc de realització: Fora UPC    
 
        Supervisor/a extern: Miquel Mulet Autonell
        Institució/Empresa: Venturi
        Titulació del Director/a: Aerospace engineering (degree)
 
Paraules clau:
drone; UAV; UAS; flight; simulator; QuadPlane; flight controller; radio control; joystick; inspection; Venturi
 
Descripció del contingut i pla d'activitats:
The purpose of this work is to create a
flight simulator for a
VTOL. The choice to base a final
master's thesis on the
development of a simulator for a VTOL is
due to the real needs
of Venturi Unmanned Technologies.
Venturi is a start-up that
is designing drones for the inspection
of power lines and
pipelines. To develop a reliable drone,
it is necessary to
perform many configuration tests and do
many hours of flight
with the actual platform. One of the
problems of the company
is precisely when it comes to flying the
drone: due to the
laws, which are very restrictive, they
have to fly the UAV in
special conditions. The place where
these conditions can be
recreated is far from the location of
the business. This makes
it very expensive to perform flight
tests in terms of
logistics and economics.

Thanks to this simulator, the company
will reduce costs and
time in testing new V1 flight
configurations. With the
simulator you can test configurations
and even train new
pilots without having to leave the
office. This will save the
time it takes to travel to the location
where drones can be
flown in accordance with the law and
will also save the cost
of booking this airspace.

The goals that were set at the beginning
of the work were two.
First of all, make a simulator that
follows the flight
mechanics of a VTOL drone, because, if
you want to test
special configurations, the simulator
must be able to
replicate the flight modes of a VTOL.
The second goal was to
develop a simulator that allows
controlling the simulated UAV
with a radio control or a joystick.
 
Overview (resum en anglès):
This master's thesis is focused on the development of a VTOL drone flight simulator. Two main objectives have been set. The first one is that the simulator must simulate all the flight phases of a VTOL. To make it possible, the simulator software is integrated with the simulation of the drone flight controller, which can be ArduPilot or PX4. The second objective is that it should be possible to control the simulated UAV via radio control, in the same way that we would do with a real drone. The thesis is structured in four chapters.

In the first chapter, we do a study of the different types of VTOL drones. There are mainly three types: tailsitters, tiltrotors, and QuadPlanes. The three flight phases of a VTOL (vertical take-off and landing, transition and horizontal flight) are also studied. The advantages of a VTOL over a fixed-wing and a multirotor are studied. Finally, we analyse the characteristics of the VTOL that Venturi is developing, called V1.

The second chapter summarizes the European laws that affect drones. There are currently two laws: Delegated Regulation 2019/945 and Implementing Regulation 2019/947. The first regulation classifies drones into five classes, according to their capabilities and characteristics. The second regulation deals with the rules and procedures that drones must fulfil. Operations are classified into three categories: open, specific and certified.

In the third chapter, a study of the software that is being used for simulation of UAVs is done. The pros and cons of each option are analysed. In view of this study, Gazebo, a robot simulation environment, is chosen for this project.

Finally, the last chapter explains the structure of the software that has been developed to carry out the desired simulation. Then, to test this simulator, tests are done with two different QuadPlane models: a model designed by Gazebo and a model of the Venturi V1. Three tests are performed for each of these QuadPlane models: 1) a test of the rotation of the engines and movement of the control surfaces; 2) a test in which the UAV must follow a pre-planned mission; and 3) a test in which we try to control the drone with a joystick.

For the first UAV model, the three tests are satisfactory; in particular, the computed average error when following the planned mission is 1.9 m. Moreover, in the joystick control test, the drone responds perfectly to the controls, just like a real VTOL. For the Venturi V1, the first test is satisfactory, but unfortunately the second and third tests cannot be carried out, likely due to an error in the Gazebo model of the V1.

As a result of this project, the developed simulator is being integrated in Venturi with a computer vision system for detection of pedestrians, to make safer landings, and for detection of the power lines, so that the UAV can follow them autonomously during power line inspection missions.

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