Design and Flight Control of a Novel Thrust-Vectored Tricopter Using Twisting and Tilting Rotors
Xinliang Li, Zheyu Chen, Jingbo Wei, Zijie Qin, Weijian Chen, Kun Liu
Abstract
This paper presents a novel, compact overactuated tricopter featuring a servo-driven twisting and tilting mechanism, preventing the adverse effects of internal force contradiction during flight. Each arm’s vectored thrust is provided by a single motor, with the twisting and tilting angles controlled by two vertically mounted servos. These components are collectively mounted within a 3D-printed semi-ring structure, and are rigidly attached to the fuselage via carbon tubes at the twist end. To address the asymmetry inherent in the tricopter configuration, we conducted a qualitative analysis of the disturbances introduced by the actuators. Additionally, we emphasize the need to include gyroscopic torque effects caused by arm rotations. This issue is addressed using a control allocation method, with our proposed improved Force Decomposition (FD)-based iteration offering a low-cost computational solution. The dynamic models of the motion of rotational joints, identified and employed as virtual sensors, contribute to the estimation of the improved control effective matrix. This overactuated tricopter can operate like a conventional rotorcraft, with the added capability of achieving attitude adjustments through manual control inputs. Finally, we demonstrate the tricopter’s advantages by comparing simulations and flight experiments, both with and without the application of the improved method.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{iros2025_designandflightc,
title = {Design and Flight Control of a Novel Thrust-Vectored Tricopter Using Twisting and Tilting Rotors},
author = {Xinliang Li and Zheyu Chen and Jingbo Wei and Zijie Qin and Weijian Chen and Kun Liu},
booktitle = {IROS 2025},
year = {2025}
}