DESIGN OF A MORPHABLE AERIAL-UNDERWATER MULTIROTOR ROBOT

Abstract

In this thesis, a novel design for an aerial-aquatic quadrotor is proposed. Inspired by the thruster layout of submersible vehicles, the thrusters of a quadrotor configuration are allowed to rotate about their respective arm axes when submerged. This allows the vehicle to move directly in the directions of surge, sway and heave, in addition to the rotational axes of roll, pitch and yaw, without large rotations of the vehicle's body. The mechanism that enables this is a straightforward coupled symmetric system that links the four arms of the vehicle, allowing the tilt action to be controlled by a single actuator output. This creates a vehicle with unique dynamics that provides several advantages as compared to existing aerial-aquatic quadrotors that use the fixed hardware layouts of aerial multirotors. The proposed design is developed into a working prototype and experimental tests conducted demonstrate the feasibility and functionality of the idea.