2016 IEEE/CSAA International Conference on Aircraft Utility Systems (AUS)
Parameter Matching of Hybrid Coaxial Rotors And Multi-rotor
UAV’s Power System
LU Binbin, YU Qihui*, FU Xiangheng, SHI Yan ,CAI Maolin
DŽ˛
Abstract—With the development of general aviation, UAVs
are increasingly used in all areas of our life. However, electric
multi-rotor UAV can’t achieve long-endurance, large load
transport due to battery energy density. And hybrid power
system is a perfect solution to this problem. This paper raised a
parameter matching method of the UAV’s hybrid power system
related to the pulling force, required power and flight
performance. The UAV’s power demand was taken as an entry
point for parameter matching, and the match result was based to
select power components. The test results of the components
performance proved the matching methods’ feasibility and
accuracy. The structure of hybrid coaxial rotors and multi-rotor
UAV is also tested to be achievable.
I. INTRODUCTION
With the development of general aviation, UAVs are
increasingly used in all areas of our lives. Electric multi-rotor
UAV has a very wide range of applications in aerial
photography, plant protection, transport, electricity inspection
and other aspects for its excellent controllability and reliability
[1]. However, electric multi-rotor UAV can’t achieve
long-endurance, large load transport due to battery energy
density [2]. To solve the aforementioned problems, an
innovative power system which includes hybrid fossil fuel
power system and battery power system is introduced.
Hybrid system has been widely used in some fields such as
hybrid power car [3], and power-split hybrid system was
developed actively even for its practicality and efficient [4]. As
we all know, the electrical UAV has a disadvantage of mileage
and loading. In the meanwhile, hybrid system has had an
application on vehicle and aircraft.
In 1999, Honda released the first hybrid system car in
America [5]. And the hybrid system is firstly used on a light
sport aircraft by Flight design company in 2009 [6]. In 2010,
Aero viroment designed a hybrid UAV Global Observer which
powered by both piston engine and motor [7]. In 2012, A new
hybrid UAV powered by fuel cells and lithium battery
designed by Liaoning General Aviation Academy had a
successful maiden flight in Liaoning province [8]. In 2015,
Top Flight company, set up by Draper laboratory and MIT
researchers, introduced a 6-rotor hybrid UAV which can fly
for two and half hours with one gallon of gasoline. However,
there is no hybrid system coaxial rotors and multi-rotor UAV
so far. For the hybrid coaxial rotors and multi-rotor UAV, both
the coaxial rotors and the multi-rotor can provide pulling force.
The engine can also drive generator while direct driving the
*Research supported by 51375028, 51205008 of the National Natural
Science Foundation of China.
*corresponding author: YU Qihui ;
phone: +86-187-1003-2451
e-mail: yqhhxq@163.com
978-1-5090-1087-5/16/$31.00©2016 IEEE
1099
October 10-12,2016 Beijing,China
coaxial rotors. And the generator can provide power to the
multi-rotor system. Compared to electric multi-rotor UAV, this
system has a more complex structure, larger payload and
longer mileage. And compared to the Top Flight’s 6-rotor
hybrid UAV, this structure is more efficient.
The following sections are organized as follows: the
introduction to hybrid power system is described in Section 2,
Parameter matching method and the steps are presented in
Section 3, the power calculating is carried out in Section4, the
experiment results are shown and analyzed in Section 5 and the
conclusion is stated in Section 6.
II. CHOICE AND DESCRIPTION OF THE OBJECT
The hybrid coaxial rotors multi-rotor UAV is designed as a
carrying platform design for plant protection [9]. In order to
meet the corresponding requirements, the UAV’s demand
parameters are shown in Table I.
TABLE I. MAIN PERFORMANCE OF COAXIAL ROTORS AND MULTI-ROTOR
UAV
Parameter Values
Maximum take-off weight /kg 60
Payload weight /kg 25
Endurance /h 1
Flight altitude /m 20
Cruising Speed /km/h 10
Anti - Wind Performance/Level 5
Operating temperature / °C -30~50
In the above performance parameters, improving payload
weight and increasing battery life are the most urgent demands.
To ensure the normal function and flexibility of UAV, Its
weight should be as light as possible [10].According to Figure
1, UAV is composed of engine, main rotor blade, motors, four
auxiliary propellers, power transmission part, battery,
generator, stent and load, etc. The structure is shown in Figure
1. Within the power system, main rotor blade are driven by the
engine, providing the main lift force of UAV, which can meet
the power requirements for such action as hovering and rising.
The four auxiliary propellers provide the deputy force required
by the UAV for level flight, maneuvering, acceleration, tilt
rotation. And the generator and the lithium battery provide
power to the four auxiliary propellers.
 complete the design of the gear unit and the rotor according to
2 5 4
the specific properties of the components. Finally, we carried
on the experimental verification to ensure the dynamic
performance to meet the requirement. The matching process is
7 shown in Figure 3.

6 The overall
1 3 design
requirements Power system
performance
8 experiment
9
Power system
layout
Test power NO
Figure 1. Hybrid coaxial rotors and multi-rotor UAV structure diagram
Coaxial rotors and multi-rotor hybrid system is divided into and calculate
two parts. The first part is a hybrid part, and the second part is Calculate the power match?
the four-rotor platform. Hybrid section includes an engine, main rotor and
clutch, generator, coaxial rotors and other structures. Hybrid four-rotorsĆ
power required YES
section has two main modes of work: power output mode and
parallel generating mode. In the power output mode, engine
drives rotors to rotate through the belt pulley and gear, Test
Parameters pulling force NO
providing the vertical pulling force for the UAV. In the parallel calculation of the
generating mode, the clutch is closed, and the engine drive and calculate
engine,motor and Pulling force
generator for power generation while driving rotors to rotate generator
through the belt pulley and gear[8]. Coaxial rotors and match?
multi-rotor hybrid system diagram is shown in Figure2. YES
5RWRU

5RWRUPRWRU Power component

ES
C
ES
C Coaxial
12s Battery
Rectifier regulator
module
ES ES
C C
Tank
Figure 2. Coaxial rotors and multi-rotor hybrid system
The engine, the motor rotor, coaxial rotors, multi-rotor,
generators, and the transmission system are the core for power
system. In this paper, the author is going to discuss and analyze
those aspects above.
III. PARAMETER MATCHING METHOD AND THE STEPS
The hybrid system needs to meet coaxial rotors and
multi-rotor UAV’s maximum lift force demand in each flight
condition. To meet the lift force demand, we set and calculate
the required power accordance with this principle: We based
on the configuration and work condition of the UAV, while
ensuring overall dynamics, to reduce the total mass of the
UAV. The coaxial rotors provide most of the main lift force,
and the four-rotor can provide the maneuver required power.
What’s more, the power generation amount should meet the
requirements of the motor rotor.
Matching steps: Firstly, we calculated the required power
based on the overall design requirements of the UAV. And
then combining the hybrid performance requirements, we
selected the engine, generator and motor rotor. Next, we
Match completed
selection
Generator sculls
Clutch
Synchronous Synchronous
wheel wheel Figure 3. Parameter matching process
Gearbox
DLE170M
Engine
IV. THE CALCULATION OF THE UAV’S REQUIRED POWER
For the general UAV, its rotor required power is generally
consists of the following parts [11]:
N Re quired =
(1)
N Level flight + N Induced + N Type Resistance + N Vertical
NRequired is the power required; NLevelflight is mainly used to
overcome the aerodynamic resistance on the airframe in level
flight; NInduced is the power to accelerate the air flowing through
the wing; NType Resistance is mainly determined by the stress
generated by propeller and the rotor blades’ lift and drag
characteristics; NVertical is the power to change the gravitational
potential energy.
For coaxial rotors, regardless of their losses between
paddle, paddles shimmy motion and reflux zone, and ignore
the compressibility and the effects of stall, and take the rotor
forces and moments for the period averages[12], they need less
required power but larger waste resistance area with respect to
the helicopter in the hover and low speed. The volume of the
coaxial rotors system is small and the rotor radius is only 70%
of the single-rotor model because of the layout. This system
has a higher hover efficiency of 17-30% according to Kamov
design bureau. The upper and the lower wings are affected by

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each other [13]. When the UAV climbs, each rotor’s axial The Įe represent for the rotor’s angle of attack. And its
velocity includes the helicopter climb speed, self-induced value approximated is 0 according to the coaxial rotors
velocity and Induced interference from another speed rotor. In structure .At this time, the induced power is:
general, the proportion of the coaxial rotors’ pull force in the
hover state under the same circumstances is: Gu
N induced = Tu = (9)
CTlow / CThigh = 0.85 (2)
1.85cos α E
We calculate the NType Resistance as follows:
In the coaxial rotors system, the shape and layout of the
upper and lower rotors have a great influence on its power, N Type Resistance = ρπ R 2 (ΩR )3 mkx / 2 (10)
efficiency. Considering that the torque of the upper and lower
rotor should be equal size in the opposite direction, and the ȍ represents the rotor rotating speed. The Rotor radius R=
proportion of the pitch of the rotors and the rotor diameter has 0.95m, ȡ=1.29kg/ , ȍ=146.6rad/s.
little effect on the hovering efficiency, we determine the We calculate the type resistance power factor as follows:
following parameters.
Radii ratio of the upper and lower rotors: mkx = σ k p cxp / 4 (11)
ɛ=0.0536, and kp is a blade form factor calculated as
Rupp / Rlow = 1 (3) follows:
Proportion of the pitch of the rotors and the rotor diameter
k p = k p 0 (1 + 4.65μ 2 ) (12)
H / D = 0.1 (4) kp0= 1.05 and ȝ is the propeller advance ratio, which means
We take the value of rotor taper ratio as 1, and take the the proportion of the relative flow velocity’s projection on the
value of rotor twist angle as 0° [14]. Since the lower rotor has rotor and the blade tip rotational speed. This parameter differs
little influence on the upper rotor, we can calculate the upper from the upper rotor to the lower.
rotor’s power in the helicopter scheme [15]. Calculated as
follows: According to the actual usage, vupintake=5m/s in the lift-off
stage. The blade tip rotational speed:
The size of the coaxial rotors is 75*12 inches with
maximum speed of 2000rpm, which means the rotor radius is vblade = ΩR (13)
0.95m.Take 70% of the maximum speed of conventional
Propeller advance ratio:
conditions, and the normal operating rotating speed of the rotor
is ȍ = 146.6rad / s. We calculated the rotor’s solid degree vup int ake
(Ratio of the paddle area and paddle swept area) to ɛ=0.0536 μ= (14)
according to the Solidworks model. vblade
Considering that the coaxial rotors system only provide Rotor tension coefficient cT is calculated as follows:
power needed in vertical movement and hovering, so the 2G
power needed is NLevelflight=0. cT = (15)
1.85ρπ R (ΩR ) 2 cosα E
2

When calculate the NInduced_up, the upper rotor’s induced

Blade lift coefficient at the characteristic section is
velocity is calculated firstly as follow:
calculated as follows:
uHover_up = T / 2π R 2 ρ (5) c y _ up = 3* cT / xσ (16)
It is known that the lower rotor provide 0.85 times the x is the blade tip loss factor, typically chosen in the range of
pulling force as the upper rotor according to the equation 0.90-0.94, and we take x=0.90. According to the appropriate
(2).When calculating uHover_up , we get the improved equation: helicopter blades airfoil lift and drag polar curve, we get the
answer cxp=0.0095 after estimation [16]. Calculated by the
uHover _ up = G / 1.85* 2π R 2 ρ (6) equations (10) and (11), we get the result that NTypeResistance_up
=664w. NVertical_up is calculated in this way:
The result is uHover_up=6.59m/s, and v>uHover_up, The
inducted speed u is calculated as follows: Gv
NVertical _ up = Gup v = (17)
­° G / 1.85* 2π R ρ !!!! v ≤ u
2 1.85
u=®
Hover _ up (7) NVertical_up=1589w.And for the upper rotor, its required
/ 1.85*2π R ρV˅
°̄G ˄
2
!!!!!!! v > uHover _ up power is NRequired_up.
When the UAV flight in level, T can be calculated as
follows: N Re quire _ up = N induced + N Tupe Re sis tan ce _ up + NVeticle _ up (18)
The result is NRequired_up=3634w.
G
T= (8) Next, we will calculate the required power of lower rotor.
1.85cos α E To simplify the calculations, it is approximated that the lower
rotor windward speed equals to the sum of the upper rotor
windward speed and the lower rotor induced speed. Ignoring

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the level flight power, Nlevelflight_low=0, Rup/Rlow=1 and Rup=Rlow
=0.95m.
When calculating the Ninduced_low, we set the induced speed
as follows.
uHover _ low = 0.85* G / 1.85* 2π R 2 ρ
Considering that v>uHover_low, we can also get the result that
Ninduced_low =998w according to the equations (8) and (9).
When calculating NTyperesistance, we set the parameters
relationship as follows to ensure the torque stability of UAV.
Ωup = Ωlow
σ up = σ low
transfer coefficient ȟ is equal to 0.8, and we can get the
conclusion that Ne=8277.5w according to the equation
(27) .When the UAV is doing plant protection jobs, it should
have ability of tracking spray, level flight in constant speed and
wind resistance according to the working station [19].
(19) 1) The level flight speed up to10m/s;
2) The ability of flight as normal under fresh breeze
( 8.0-10.7 m/s, calculated as 10m/s);
3) The ability of acceleration, deceleration and steering.
The limit level flight speed is 20m/s.
(20) The power of level flight and the force of type resistance
(21) are calculated as follows:

And we can obviously know that: N levelflight = X Tyoeresis tan ce * vlevelflight (28)
v in _ up + v induced _ up X Typeresis tan ce = ρ v 2 ( ¦ C X S ) / 2 (29)
μlow = (22)
v propeller CXS is the windward type resistance coefficient. Its value is
obtained from the aerodynamic manual, and is closely related
Calculated by the equations (10)(11)(12)(15)(16)and(22), to the UAV’s shape.
we get the result : mkx =0.00012928, NTyperesistance_low = 639w.
NVertical_low is calculated in this way: It can be analyzed from the equation (28) and (29) that
NLevelflight is directly proportional to v3 .So the value of v has a
0.85Gv huge influence on NLevelflight. CX is the type resistance of each
NVertical _ low = Glowv = (23)
part of the airframe, S is the resistance area. When the UAV is
1.85
The result is NVerhical_low =1351w. flying level in a low speed the CX is small, and the aircraft
resistance mainly comes from the rotors. With the increase of
For the low rotor, its’ required power is NRequired_low. the level flight speed, the rotors’ resistance decreases gradually
while the CX is increasing, and the airframe resistance becomes
N Re quire _ low = N induced + N Tupe Re sis tan ce _ low + NVetical _ low (24) the major resistance.
The result is NRequired=2988w.
According to the PCA-2 rotorcraft’s resistance changes
N Required = N Re quired _ up + N Re quired _ low (25) with the forward speed [20], we got the conclusion that the
UAV’s resistance is mostly provided by the rotors’ resistance
So we can get the result that NRequired=6622w. And we will with the forward speed below 20m/s especially considering
calculate the engine output power to provide it. The this UAV’s multi-propeller structure. The estimated result is
relationship of the required power with the engine output XTyperesistance=60N, NLevelflight=1200w. So each motor’s required
power is as equation (26). power Ne•300W to meet the UAV maneuvering performance.
Ne = N Available + N Cooled + N Friction + N Tailrotor (26) The selection of engine and motor mainly based on the
NCooled , NFriction and NTailrotor are hard to calculate , so we use following principles:
an approximate algorithm. 1) Engine should provide the main propeller required
power while loading the generators;
N Available = ξ Ne (27)
The ȟ is the power transfer coefficient [17], it is determined 2) The generated power should meet the four motors’
by the relationship between moving rate and power transfer power requirement.
coefficient on condition that there are no precise data [18].The After adequate market research, we select the power
relationship is listed in Table II. system components listed in Table III.

TABLE II. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOVING RATE AND POWER TRANSFER TABLE III. POWER SYSTEM COMPONENTS SELECTED
COEFFICIENT
Equipment Type Function
ȝ 0 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 Maximum speed :7200rpm

ȟ(Turbo) 0.84 0.85 0.87 0.88 0.88 0.88 Engine DLE170M Working speed :6000rpm

0.80 0.81 0.82 0.84 0.86 0.87 Maximum output power:13kw

ȟ(Piston)
Maximum speed :2000rpm

Coaxial Rotors AF25B Propeller Working speed :1300-1400rpm

Taking UAV hover state, the rotor’s available power is Diameter :2000mm
used to keep in hover state and reserved for the balance. So
when the value of ȝ is equal to 0, and powered by piston engine,

1102
 T-MOTOR 80KV Power about 400w
Rotor motor U10PLUS Provide pulling force about
30*10.5 3-4kg per rotor
Rotor
Generator TIANHE 1.5kw 3500rpm

V. POWER SYSTEM PERFORMANCE TESTING

In order to verify the accuracy of parameters matching, we
conducted a test about the power system dynamic performance.
And the result is as follows. Engine speed and accelerator
opening degree test result is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 2. Rotor pulling force and power consumption diagram at different

Engine rotation speed —Throttle opening voltages
degree characteristic curve The weight of every part of the UAV is listed in the
8000
Engine rotation speed(rpm)

TABLE 4. We can get the conclusion that the total weight of

6000 UAV even with gas, battery and supports which could
4000 guarantee aircraft performance is less than the coaxial rotors
and small rotors’ pulling force. So the power system can
2000 provide enough pulling force for the UAV.
0
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% TABLE IV.THE WEIGHT OF EVERY PART OF THE UAV
Throttle opening degree(percentage)
Equipment Weight Equipment Weight
Engine 6.4kg Synchronous wheel 1kg
Figure 4. Relationship between engine rotation speed and throttle opening
Sculls 1.5kg Clutch 1kg
degree
Engine performance testing result with propeller is shown Gasoline 5kg Connector 1.5kg
in Figure 5. Motor*4 2kg Carbon fiber 3kg

Propeller*4 1.2kg Regulator 0.5kg

Gearbox 2kg Flight control 0.5kg

Battery 3kg Support 5kg

Generator 2.3kg Total weight 35.9kg

The engine provides 8277.5w power to the Coaxial Rotors,

Figure 1. Relationship between engine pulling force with rotational speed
We researched the relationship between engine rotation
speed and throttle opening degree and the relationship between
engine rotation speed and the rotor’s pulling force through
experiments. And we got the conclusion that the pulling force
increases as the rotation speed increasing and the rotation
speed increase as the throttle opening degree increasing. The
corresponding relationship makes it convenient to control the
pulling force by the throttle opening degree.
We conducted the power performance tests on the motor
with rotor, and measured the currents, rotation speed and
pulling force at different voltages. As shown in Figure 6, under
the condition that meeting the pulling force demand, the motor
efficiency is higher with 8s battery while generator being able
to meet the power requirements.
and the four-motors’ total required power is 1200w which
should be meet by the generator. We select the 1500w Outer
rotor permanent magnet generator due to the loss power in the
process of rectifying regulator. The permanent magnet
structure eliminate the required excitation power for
generating a magnetic field and the mechanical losses from the
friction of the carbon brushes and slip ring, which increasing
the generator’s efficiency. The average efficiency of normal
excitation generator is only 45%-55% while the efficiency of
permanent magnet generator can reach 75-80%. So the
required power of the engine to drive generator is about 2000w.
We chose engine with rated power of 13kw considering the
engine should drive the generator and Coaxial Rotors.
After the power matching, we can conclude that the
provided power by the hybrid system can meet the required
power obviously even we don’t use the big double-propellers.
So this structure is proved to be properly from the perspective
of power matching.
VI. CONCLUSION
This paper matched the parameters of the Hybrid UAV’s
power system and tested the selected components’

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performance. Through the matching and testing, the
conclusion can be gotten as follows.
(1)The structure of the coaxial rotors multi-rotor hybrid
UAV is properly. And the power system can provide enough
power to guarantee the UAV’s function.
(2) The testing over the motor and engine proved that
selected components can provide enough pulling force and
enough power.
(3) The corresponding relationship of motor and rotor
make it convenient to control the pulling force by the throttle
opening degree. And under the condition that meeting the
pulling force demand, the motor efficiency is higher with 8s
battery while generator being able to meet the power
requirements.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The research work presented in this paper is financially
supported by grants 51375028, 51205008 of the National
Natural Science Foundation of China. The authors greatly
appreciate the support of the Foundation of Beijing Municipal
Science & Technology Commission. Without their support,
this research could not have been completed.
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