Design and Control of a Multi-UAV Cabin System
摘要
The advancement of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has enabled its widespread application in fields such as agricultural and forestry protection, video surveillance, and emergency rescue. However, short flight endurance and inconvenient transportation remain significant industry challenges for UAVs. To address these critical industry pain points, this paper presents the design of a multi-UAV cabin system. This cabin serves as a warehouse and energy replenishment facility, featuring automated battery swapping, autonomous trajectory planning, and unmanned operation capabilities, offering significant practical implications and broad application potential. The hardware design of the cabin incorporates a multi-layer landing pad structure. Key internal mechanisms were designed for sliding, centering, and lifting the UAVs. Basic motion control programming was implemented based on the PLCopen standard, utilizing the EtherCAT bus system as the core PLC solution. This approach significantly simplifies wiring and facilitates easier electrical assembly. On the software side, the system was developed by extending the QGroundControl (QGC) software. A dedicated control panel for managing internal cabin equipment was added, integrating the cabin’s overall functionality. Furthermore, to ensure operational reliability in GPS-denied environments, a UAV precision landing function was developed. This guarantees that UAVs can return to the cabin with pinpoint accuracy under challenging conditions.