Innovative Design and Comprehensive Aerodynamic Performance Investigations on Propeller Positions of the Advanced Multirotor Hexacopter

This work deals with computational investigations of the component performances of Advanced Hexacopters under various maneuverings of the focused mission profiles. The Advanced Hexacopter is a kind of multirotor vehicle that contains more propellers and flexible arms, which makes this multirotor very maneuverable and aerodynamically efficient. This Hexacopter was designed specifically to execute multi-perspective applications along with enhanced payload-carrying capability. This Advanced Hexacopter contains a frame composed of modified arms equipped with coaxial rotors, which servo motors control. By providing specific and simple inputs to the microcontroller, the Hexacopter can autonomously undergo forward and backward maneuverings. The primary objective of this study is to analyze and compare different propeller configurational clearance sets that improve the maneuvering capability of this unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), specifically emphasizing forward/backward and side maneuvering through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Especially, this research was to design and simulate a new model of the Hexacopter frame and to obtain an optimal configurational position of propellers that would provide the best aerodynamic performance for the Hexacopter. Through the deflection of the propeller cum flexible arm configuration at angles, the thrust value varies. The results indicate that the thrust variation in Hexacopter helps to attain the desired directional movements. CFD simulations are used to identify the best propeller position system, which could give better performance than conventionally existing UAV designs. This work deals with the analysis of how various propeller setups affect an UAV’s ability to hover at a fixed altitude and maneuver efficiently in forward as well as side directions. Thus, it’s concluded that this Advanced Hexacopter is preferred over the conventional Hexacopter models because of its ability to perform forward and backward maneuvering autonomously without altering the rotor RPM.