Experimental Characterization of a Propulsion System for Multi-rotor UAVs

The propulsion system of a multi-rotor UAV plays a fundamental role in the aircraft flight characteristics. In fact, it generally represents the major contributor to the aerodynamic forces acting on the vehicle. While several approaches for modeling rotor thrust and drag forces exist, the problem of identifying the parameters for these models is still challenging. In this paper we propose a systematic method for identifying a limited number of parameters which guarantee accurate thrust and drag prediction according to Blade Element Theory (BET). Simple experimental tests employing a popular rotor system and a custom-made quadrotor are used both in the identification phase and for the final validation. The discussion of the results illustrates the accuracy of the method, while highlighting the modeling limit of BET. A refinement using Blade Element Momentum Theory is proposed and validated with the support of experimental data.