PWM Controller for MAV Morphing Application

Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) is a type of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) which has size restriction. MAV operation can be controlled by remotely or autonomously. Instead of using servo mechanism we have used Macro Fiber Composite (MFC) as the control actuator for the control surface movement of MAV for morphing applications. The working voltage of MFC ranges from -500V to 1500V. Radio Control (RC) transmitter transmits the controlling signal and the signal is received by receiver antenna as radio signal. The Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal is fed to MSP430G2553 microcontroller to convert into digital frequency signal. The output of microcontroller is fed to different isolation switches for control actions. The control action involves the switching action between two isolation switches with different voltage levels at each time. The controller takes the PWM signal and connects the actuator either straight connection or crossover connection as per the reference signal from the transmitter for MAV to fly in synchronous or asynchronous flight mode.

Author(s): Rashmi Patil, P. Siva Subba Rao, Sushma S J

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