Optimization of Rotor Arrangement for a Multirotor UAV with Robustness against a Single Rotor-Failure

This paper proposes the optimization scheme for designing rotor arrangements for a multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which achieves high manipulability with satisfying fault-tolerant properties against an arbitrary single rotor fault. The proposed optimization problem is formulated to yield UAVs in which rotors are all directed upward and arranged on the same plane without overlapping. We then apply this optimization problem to design a hexarotor. The obtained structure shows a similar structure to the 2Y hexarotor, which was presented in the previous work without guaranteeing its optimality. We then build a prototype of the 2Y hexarotor. The experimental demonstration verifies the robustness of the 2Y hexarotor against any single rotor malfunction. Copyright (c) 2023 The Authors.