{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/72889"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/72889","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Instrumentation and Control of a Ducted Fan Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in Hover Mode","abstract":"Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly being used for both military and commercial applications to replace more costly and dangerous manned operations. Vehicles with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and hovering capabilities are of interest for functions such as surveillance and inspection where the ability to hold the position of the vehicle is desired. Ducted fan vehicles are of particular interest because of their high efficiency per unit diameter when compared to the more commonly seen multirotor vehicles. This makes ducted fan UAVs very well suited for size-constrained missions such as indoor inspection or urban reconnaissance. However, the advantages of ducted fans come at the cost of complex nonlinear dynamics which present challenging modeling and control problems. This thesis provides a detailed discussion of the instrumentation, modeling, and control of a ducted fan UAV. The dynamic model of the UAV is computed from a simplified parametric model. Unknown parameters of the model are found from system identification based on flight data. Synthesis of a linear state feedback controller based on this model is discussed, and it is demonstrated in hardware that this controller can effectively stabilize the vehicle.","abstract_html":"Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly being used for both military and commercial applications to replace more costly and dangerous manned operations. Vehicles with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and hovering capabilities are of interest for functions such as surveillance and inspection where the ability to hold the position of the vehicle is desired. Ducted fan vehicles are of particular interest because of their high efficiency per unit diameter when compared to the more commonly seen multirotor vehicles. This makes ducted fan UAVs very well suited for size-constrained missions such as indoor inspection or urban reconnaissance. However, the advantages of ducted fans come at the cost of complex nonlinear dynamics which present challenging modeling and control problems. This thesis provides a detailed discussion of the instrumentation, modeling, and control of a ducted fan UAV. The dynamic model of the UAV is computed from a simplified parametric model. Unknown parameters of the model are found from system identification based on flight data. Synthesis of a linear state feedback controller based on this model is discussed, and it is demonstrated in hardware that this controller can effectively stabilize the vehicle.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Straub, Benjamin Preston"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Electrical Engineering","degree_department":"Electrical and Computer Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Stilwell, Daniel J."],"committee_members":["Woolsey, Craig A.","Beex, Aloysius A."],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-09-06","date_published":"2016-09-06","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:49Z","subjects":["Unmanned Aerial Vehicle","Drone aircraft","Control","Ducted Fan"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:8763"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:8763","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/72889","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Stilwell, Daniel J."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Woolsey, Craig A.","Beex, Aloysius A."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Electrical and Computer Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Straub, Benjamin Preston"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2016-09-07T08:01:13Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-09-07T08:01:13Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2016-09-06"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Electrical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Unmanned Aerial Vehicle","Drone aircraft","Control","Ducted Fan"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:8763"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/72889"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly being used for both military and commercial applications to replace more costly and dangerous manned operations. Vehicles with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and hovering capabilities are of interest for functions such as surveillance and inspection where the ability to hold the position of the vehicle is desired. Ducted fan vehicles are of particular interest because of their high efficiency per unit diameter when compared to the more commonly seen multirotor vehicles. This makes ducted fan UAVs very well suited for size-constrained missions such as indoor inspection or urban reconnaissance. However, the advantages of ducted fans come at the cost of complex nonlinear dynamics which present challenging modeling and control problems. This thesis provides a detailed discussion of the instrumentation, modeling, and control of a ducted fan UAV. The dynamic model of the UAV is computed from a simplified parametric model. Unknown parameters of the model are found from system identification based on flight data. Synthesis of a linear state feedback controller based on this model is discussed, and it is demonstrated in hardware that this controller can effectively stabilize the vehicle."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstractgeneral","label":"General Abstract","values":["Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly being used for both military and commercial applications to replace more costly and dangerous manned operations. Vehicles with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and hovering capabilities are of interest for functions such as surveillance and inspection where the ability to hold the position of the vehicle is desired. Ducted fan vehicles are of particular interest because of their high efficiency per unit diameter when compared to the more commonly seen multirotor vehicles. This makes ducted fan UAVs very well suited for size-constrained missions such as indoor inspection or urban reconnaissance. However, the advantages of ducted fans come at the cost of complex dynamics which present challenging modeling and control problems. This thesis provides a detailed discussion of the instrumentation, modeling, and control of a ducted fan UAV. The dynamic model of the UAV is computed from a simplified parametric model. Unknown parameters of the model are found from system identification based on flight data. 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However, the advantages of ducted fans come at the cost of complex dynamics which present challenging modeling and control problems. This thesis provides a detailed discussion of the instrumentation, modeling, and control of a ducted fan UAV. The dynamic model of the UAV is computed from a simplified parametric model. Unknown parameters of the model are found from system identification based on flight data. 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