Theses and Dissertations
Date of Award
5-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Department
Mechanical Engineering
Committee Chair
Carlos Montalvo, Ph.D
Advisor(s)
Joseph Richardson, Ph.D., Julia Kar, Ph.D., Sean Walker, Ph.D.
Abstract
For the concept of Urban Air Mobility to be implemented into everyday life, the safety of passengers, bystanders, and surrounding infrastructure needs to be held paramount [1]. In previous work done at the University of South Alabama Facility for Aerospace Systems and Technology (FAST) lab, a reconfigurable control law was derived and tested on a scratch built multicopter [2]. The goal of the control law was to stabilize an X8 model multicopter in the event of motor outages [2]. The control law was tested on a simulated model and flight tested on a small-scale X8 multicopter to verify the effectiveness of the control law [2]. In this thesis, the isolated software previously tested was integrated into the FAST Configurable Autopilot and Simulation Software Tool (FASTCASST) software and simulated and flight tested to verify the integration of the control law and aerodynamic model into the FASTCASST ecosystem. Simulations observing the response of the roll and pitch are observed to verify the integration of the aerodynamic model, and simulations observing the altitude, roll angle, pitch angle, and yaw rate are observed to verify the integration and effectiveness of the control law. Finally, a multicopter was flight tested to verify the integration and effectiveness of the control law into the FASTCASST ecosystem.
Recommended Citation
Wearren, William A., "Nonlinear Control System Design and Hardware Testing of an Overactuated Multicopter" (2025). Theses and Dissertations. 212.
https://jagworks.southalabama.edu/theses_diss/212
Included in
Aeronautical Vehicles Commons, Navigation, Guidance, Control and Dynamics Commons, Other Aerospace Engineering Commons