Foldable Multi-Rotor Layout for Low-Drag Stable Flight
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multi-rotor aerial vehicles have a large size, making them cumbersome to handle during transportation and storage, and suffer from drag during cruising, which affects efficiency and range, while also lacking stability during take-off, landing, and hovering.
Innovation Solution
A multi-copter aerial vehicle design with foldable rotor arms and a tilted fuselage, where rotor arms are pivotally coupled at an angle to the central axis, allowing for compact packaging and reduced drag, and includes a balanced payload configuration with primary and secondary payloads at different vertical heights to prevent obstruction and enhance stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the aerial vehicle uses a conventional layout with rotors distributed on arms extended from the fuselage, then the rotors can be effectively positioned for flight operation, but the overall size becomes large making it cumbersome to handle during transportation and storage
Solution Approach 1:
The rotor arms are designed to be movable relative to the fuselage, capable of rotating between an operational position during flight and a folded position during transportation. This dynamic configuration allows the aerial vehicle to change its spatial footprint, reducing from an extended layout to a compact folded state, thereby resolving the contradiction between operational effectiveness and transportability
Solution Approach 2:
The aerial vehicle is divided into separable components with rotor arms that can be independently positioned. The rotor arms are detachably coupled to the fuselage, allowing them to be folded or removed entirely. This segmentation enables the system to adapt its configuration based on operational needs versus transportation requirements
2Productivity
If the rotor arms are extended outward for effective rotor distribution, then the rotors can operate efficiently, but the aerial vehicle experiences increased drag during cruising
Solution Approach 1:
The rotor arms are configured to be movable between an operational configuration during flight and a retracted/folded configuration during cruising. By dynamically adjusting the arm position, the aerial vehicle can minimize its cross-sectional area and reduce drag during high-speed cruising while maintaining effective rotor distribution when flight operation is required
3Power
If the rotor arms are positioned far from the central axis for stable rotor operation, then the rotors can generate sufficient thrust, but the aerial vehicle lacks stability during take-off, landing, and hovering
Solution Approach 1:
The aerial vehicle employs an asymmetric configuration where rotor arms are positioned at different distances from the central axis. Some rotor arms extend farther to generate sufficient thrust, while others are positioned closer to the center to provide stabilizing influence. This asymmetric arrangement allows the system to simultaneously achieve both adequate power generation and improved stability during critical flight phases
Data Source
AI summary
An aerial vehicle (100) comprises a fuselage (102) having a front end (102a), a rear end (102b), and a central axis (X-X′) passing through a centroid of the fuselage (102) and extending between the front end (102a) and the rear end (102b). The aerial vehicle (100) comprises a pair of front rotor arms (104) pivotally coupled to the left side (102c) and right side (102d) of the fuselage (102) close to the front end (102a) of the fuselage (102). Further, a pair of rear rotor arms (106) is pivotally coupled to the left side (102c) and right side (102d) of the fuselage (102) close to the rear end (102b) of the fuselage (102). Planes (ABCD, A′B′C′D′) of rotational movement of the pair of front rotor arms (104) and the rear rotor arms (106) are at an angle to the central axis (X-X′) of the fuselage (102).