Design and control of a gas-electric hybrid quad tilt-rotor UAV with morphing wing

In this work, design and control system development of a gas-electric hybrid quad tilt-rotor UAV with morphing wing are presented. The proposed aircraft has an all carbon-composite body, gas-electric hybrid electric generation system for 3 hours hovering or up to 10 hours of horizontal flight, a novel configuration for VTOL and airplane-like flights with minimized aerodynamic costs and mechanical morphing wings for both low speed and high speed horizontal flights. The mechanical design of the vehicle is performed to achieve a strong and light-weight structure, whereas the aerodynamic and propulsion system designs are aimed for accomplishing both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft flights with maximized flight endurance. A detailed dynamic model of the aerial vehicle is developed including the effects of tilting rotors, variable fuel weight, and morphing wing lift-drag forces and pitching moments. Control system is designed for both flight regimes and flight simulations are carried out to check the performance of the proposed control system.