Transition Flight Demonstration of a Quin Tilt-Rotor UAV in the Low Speed Wind Tunnel

A quin tilt-rotor (QuinTR) aircraft, equipped with five convertible rotors from vertical to level and vice versa, is one of the most promising Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) configurations combing the hovering capabilities with the high-speed cruise performance. However, the process of transition flight is quite challenging due to the significant changes in aerodynamic and propulsion characteristics, and therefore requires a tilt-conversion corridor and gain-scheduled flight controller. This paper presents recent advances in the project: transition flight control design and demonstration of a QuinTR UAV in the low speed wind tunnel at the China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center (CARDC). Based on the wind tunnel test benchmark, a prototype QuinTR UAV model has been constructed for both essential aerodynamic and virtual flight tests, a six-degree-of-freedom dynamics model covering the full conversion process has been developed for control law design and simulation, and a virtual flight test has been carried out for successful demonstration and validation of the transition flight.