Tilt-wing aircraft
Example embodiment provides an aircraft with improved agility. The aircraft includes a main body, at least two wing assemblies, at least two motors, and a controller. The wing assemblies are attached to the main body. Each motor tilts one wing assembly with a tilting angle. The controller is connected with the motors for controlling the tilting angle of the wing assembly. Each wing assembly further includes a wing, a power plant, and a propeller that is driven by the power plant for providing propulsion. Each wing assembly tilts with an individual tilting angle, so that the aircraft can fly with improved agility. The power plants and propellers on the wings can each be controlled independently in synchronism with the tilting wings.
1. A method for controlling an attitude of a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the UAV comprising a controller and two wing assemblies that are driven by two servo-motors respectively, wherein:
the servo-motors are connected to the controller;
the servo-motors and the controller are embedded inside the main body of the UAV;
each wing assembly comprises a power plant and a propeller driven by the power plant; wherein:
the power plant is arranged on the wing,
the propeller is configured to provide propulsion for the UAV,
wherein the rotation plane of the propeller is perpendicular to the plane of the wing;
the method comprising:
continuously determining, by the controller, a current flying attitude of the UAV according to measurements of a plurality of sensors;
calculating, by the controller, a first tilting angle, a first torque of the first wing assembly, a first power output for the first power plant, and a first propelling direction of the first propeller according to the current flying attitude and a desired flying attitude;
calculating, by the controller, a second tilting angle, a second torque of the second wing assembly, a second power output for the second power plant, and a second propelling direction of the second propeller according to the current flying attitude and the desired flying attitude;
wherein the desired flying attitude includes air-braking, aggressive turns, flipping over, or hovering upside down;
providing, by the first servo-motor, the first torque to the first wing assembly to tilt the first wing assembly with the first tilting angle and providing, by the first power plant, the first power output to the first propeller and the first propelling direction of the first propeller;
providing, by the second servo-motor, the second torque to the second wing assembly to tilt the second wing assembly with the second tilting angle, and providing, by the second power plant, the second power output to the second propeller and the second propelling direction of the second propeller; and
tilting the first wing assembly with the first tilting angle and tilting the second wing assembly with the second tilting angle in sync with the power outputs of the power plants controlled by the controller while continuously and synchronously fine-tuning the tilting angle of each wing assembly and the power output of each power plant to maintain balance of the UAV, such that high agility of the UAV is achieved;
wherein the first and second tilting angles are configured to be at any angle from 0 to 360 degree;
wherein the tilting angle and torque of each wing assembly are calculated to achieve a desired flying attitude in 6-axis,
wherein the steps of calculating the tilting angle and the torque of each wing assembly are conducted using an artificial intelligence algorithm or a deep learning algorithm that learns previous control action for improved control action in next incidents and achieves high agility of the UAV.
2. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:
providing, by the first power plant, a larger power output than the second power plant when the desired flying attitude of the UAV is shifting to the side of the first wing assembly; and
tilting, by the servo-motors, the wing assemblies to be vertical to the ground when the desired flying attitude of the UAV is taking off from the ground, landing on the ground or hovering above the ground;
wherein the first and second power plant can provide appropriate power and direction in synchronism with the angle of each of the tilting wings to maintain balance of the UAV according to the control instructions inputted to the system.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
measuring, by the plurality of sensors, parameters of the UAV,
wherein the sensors include one or more of an accelerometer, a gravity sensor, a digital compass, a Global Positioning System (GPS), a temperature sensor, a wind sensor and cameras.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
tilting, by the motors, the wing assemblies with a same forward tilting angle when the desired flying attitude of the UAV is flying forward or accelerating.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
tilting, by the motors, the wing assemblies with a same backward tilting angle when the desired flying attitude of the UAV is flying backward or decelerating.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
tilting, by the motors, the first wing assembly with a forward tilting angle and the second wing assembly with a backward tilting angle when the desired flying attitude of the UAV is turning towards the side of the second wing assembly.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
tilting, by the motors, the first wing assembly upwards and the second wing assembly downwards when the desired flying attitude of the UAV is rotating around itself.
8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:
tilting, by the motors, both wing assemblies downwards when the UAV has flipped over and is hovering upside down.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the servo motor comprises a reduction gear box.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the attitude of the UAV further comprises providing a control signal to the servo-motors to control the individual tilting angle and torque of each wing assembly during normal flight of the UAV to provide better aerodynamics.