In Flight Motor Switching for a Defective Quadcopter
This project explores the design and control challenges for replacing a failing quadrotor actuator with a smaller quadrotor. The mission objectives and operations are discussed to provide baseline requirements for the design to follow. Existing quadrotor frames are edited to suit the mission requirements and alterations are used to drive the design of the connection mechanism. A connection design which allows the quadrotors to dock mid-flight is tested for performance under loading with finite element simulations. Discussion of the flight dynamics and a simulation of quadrotor motion including the disturbances expected throughout the connection process are shown to provide proof of concept.