A new strategy for safely landing a drone with a rotor failure

The extended use of multi rotors and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across various fields has led to investigations into typical failures associated with these systems. Among these, rotor failure is one of the most common issues in electrically powered multi rotors. In this study, a new strategy, referred to as the Virtual Actuator Strategy (VAS) or Soft Actuator Strategy (SAS), is proposed to address rotor failure scenarios and ensure the safe landing of a drone. The VAS involves generating a model of the system to serve as a virtual actuator in the event of actuator failure. This model enables the construction of compensator control signals based on the response of the healthy actuators to the simulated failed actuator, referred to as the soft or virtual actuator. These signals significantly enhance control performance during rotor failure, thereby improving the likelihood of a safe landing. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed VAS, numerical simulations are conducted using a quadrotor model. The virtual actuator method is applied in scenarios where one rotor fails. The results demonstrate the superiority and practicality of the VAS in compensating for rotor failure and ensuring the safe landing of the quadrotor. Design a new method for safely landing a drone when its motor is damaged. Fault tolerant in the landing phase without additive actuator. 3 D simulation of a drone in safe landing with new controller.

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Publication Details

Journal
Discover Mechanical Engineering
Published
2025-11-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s44245-025-00146-y
Primary Topic
Adaptive Control of Nonlinear Systems
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

A new strategy for safely landing a drone with a rotor failure

A. M. Khoshnood
Discover Mechanical Engineering
Adaptive Control of Nonlinear Systems
article

A new strategy for safely landing a drone with a rotor failure

A. M. Khoshnood
article en

Abstract

The extended use of multi rotors and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across various fields has led to investigations into typical failures associated with these systems. Among these, rotor failure is one of the most common issues in electrically powered multi rotors. In this study, a new strategy, referred to as the Virtual Actuator Strategy (VAS) or Soft Actuator Strategy (SAS), is proposed to address rotor failure scenarios and ensure the safe landing of a drone. The VAS involves generating a model of the system to serve as a virtual actuator in the event of actuator failure. This model enables the construction of compensator control signals based on the response of the healthy actuators to the simulated failed actuator, referred to as the soft or virtual actuator. These signals significantly enhance control performance during rotor failure, thereby improving the likelihood of a safe landing. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed VAS, numerical simulations are conducted using a quadrotor model. The virtual actuator method is applied in scenarios where one rotor fails. The results demonstrate the superiority and practicality of the VAS in compensating for rotor failure and ensuring the safe landing of the quadrotor. Design a new method for safely landing a drone when its motor is damaged. Fault tolerant in the landing phase without additive actuator. 3 D simulation of a drone in safe landing with new controller.

Discover Mechanical EngineeringVol. 4(1)
K. N. Toosi University of Technology (IR)
Openalex Percentile: Top 55%
Adaptive Control of Nonlinear Systems
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