Multicopter Flight Control Accompanied by Deviation of Center of Gravity

Abstract

Multicopter flight control is performed assuming location of multicopter center of gravity at the body center. When a multicopter carries a load, however, the center of gravity often deviates from the body center. This led, therefore, to considering development of a mechanism to make a multicopter center of gravity agree with the body center. However, there is concern that multicopter production cost and weight may increase. This study (1) examines conditions under which a multicopter can fly without the above-mentioned mechanism installed, even if the center of gravity does not agree with the body center; (2) indicates a method by which a multicopter can be adaptively controlled and take off, even if the center of gravity position is unknown; (3) describes a technique using recursive least squares method to estimate center of gravity position in detail for a multicopter after take-off; (4) describes flight control in the center of gravity direction that makes estimated center of gravity direction agree with the progressing direction; (5) investigates energy consumption in the state that multicopter center of gravity does not agree with the body center; and (6) discusses such a flying method's feasibility.