A Modular Multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Design Approach for Development of an Engineering Education Platform

The development of multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has enabled a vast number of applications. Since further market growth is expected in the future it is important that modern engineers be familiar with these types of mechatronic systems. In this paper, a comprehensive mathematical description of a multirotor UAV, with various configuration parameters, is given. A modular design approach for the development of an educational multirotor platform is proposed. Through the stages of computer-aided design and rapid prototyping an experimental modular multirotor (EMMR) platform is presented. Open-source control system and a novel EMMR enable students to create and test control algorithms for various multirotor configurations. The presented EMMR platform is suitable for students to expand their educational objectives in aerial robotics and control theory.