Design, Modeling, and Control of a Personal Aerial System

Miniature personal aerial vehicles (PAVs) with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities offer significant advantages over conventional vehicles in rescue missions, particularly in terms of compactness, manned flight capability, and load-carrying capacity. However, detailed research work on such systems has been reported infrequently. This paper introduces a miniature VTOL PAV, weighing 55 kg and measuring 45 * 87 * 154 cm. The PAV is equipped with five vertically arranged micro-turbojet engines that enable VTOL capabilities and support a load capacity exceeding 100 kg. A two-degree-of-freedom vector nozzle mechanism attached to the engines allows precise thrust direction adjustments. Based on this propulsion system and the PAV's physical model, a cascade proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller is developed to regulate PAV's position and attitude. Additionally, a feed-forward-based proportional-derivative (PD) controller is implemented to enhance the engine's thrust response. The PAV prototype underwent rigorous testing in various outdoor conditions, ranging from temperatures of −7°C to 42°C and wind speeds of 0 to 7.2 m/s. Experimental results show that the flight speed reached 14.65 m/s, with a flight duration exceeding 5 min. These results confirm the feasibility of the proposed PAV's design principles, demonstrating its adaptability to varying environmental conditions. While the primary focus of this paper is on the miniature PAV system, its findings contribute to the broader field of advanced air mobility research.