Failure Mode and Effects Analysis for large scale multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Controlled by Moving Mass System

In this paper Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) for a large scale multirotor systems (with moving mass) based on novel system for aircraft control will be presented. This system uses four petrol engines for lift and a moving mass system to control the vehicle. Analysis presented in this paper assesses the vulnerabilities of the system during the vehicle operation. The main objective of the analysis is to understand the cause and severity of the failures that can occur to the petrol engines and the moving mass system. Our unmanned aerial vehicle system is used for environmental monitoring and maritime security developed under MORUS project funded under NATO SPS Program. The ultimate goal of our research and design is to make an unmanned aerial vehicle that can lift larger amount of load (approximately 40kg). During its operation time the unmanned aerial vehicle might fail to complete a certain assignment so failure mode and effects analysis is needed to account for such problems and to find appropriate activities to reduce the overall risk the system faces during the mission.