Multicopter UAV design optimization

Designing and selecting hardware for a multirotor can be challenging in order to get the best flight performance out of the system. In addition to selecting the hardware, the number of actuators can also be altered. For a 4 actuator (quadrotor) setup, one set of hardware can give the optimal design, while for a 6 actuator setup (hexarotor) the same hardware may not necessarily give the same response. In this paper we present a design optimization process of a multirotor, where the hardware is selected from a set of low-cost off-the-shelf standard RC hobby parts. Constraining the problem to a given hardware ensures existence of the selected hardware, and the design can be implemented. Also the system equations will remain linear when selecting from a set of given data. Hence the problem is defined as a mixed integer linear program (MILP) and solved with the Cplex solver. The Cplex solver is fast and the solution is close to the optimal solution of the problem. In this paper the multirotor is designed for 4, 6 and 8 actuators, and the design with the lowest value of the objective function is the optimal design. As shown, optimizing the design for a given set of hardware and payload results in a 11 minutes longer time of flight, than just using the biggest propeller, motor and battery available.