Design and Analysis of the Attitude Adjustment Mechanism for a Rotor MAV Based on Compliant Mechanisms

Traditional swash plates generally have numerous parts, which may result in the abrasion of key parts. In this paper, to avoid the problems of traditional swash plates, a low-cost and high-reliability rotor micro-aerial vehicle integrated attitude-adjustment mechanism (IAAM) is designed based on compliant mechanism theory. The mechanism is composed of a series of curved plates and connecting convex plates. In this context, the relationship of the loads and deformations of a cantilever curved plate is analytically determined. Meanwhile, the geometrical parameters of the IAAM are optimized to the minimum mass by a genetic algorithm. The performance of the optimized IAAM is verified by finite element analysis. Modal and static analyses are performed to ensure that the mechanism meets the requirements of the flight process of the aircraft. The designed attitude adjustment mechanism reduces the complexity of the structure and installation and improves the structural reliability. Furthermore, this mechanism can be 3D printed, thus reducing production costs and improving production efficiency.