Underactuated Rotor for Simple Micro Air Vehicles

Thrust, roll, and pitch authority are derived from a single propeller and single motor through an underactuated mechanism embedded in the rotor itself. This allows new types of conventionally-capable micro air vehicles which only require two motors for practical control. This contrasts with the many servos and linkages of conventional helicopters or the many drive motors found in quadrotors. This is an ongoing research project of James Paulos, one of Prof. Mark Yim’s students at the University of Pennsylvania.