Experiments and simulations for the development of a dual-stator PMSM for lightweight fixed-wing UAV propulsion

The work summarizes the experimental and simulation studies carried out on the full-electric propulsion system of a lightweight fixed-wing UAV developed in the research program TERSA. The electric motor, specifically designed for the project, is a double-stator axial-flux PMSM with single output shaft, directly connected to a twin-blade fixed-pitch propeller. The system dynamics is firstly addressed by nonlinear simulation, modelling the motor and related sensors, the propeller and the digital controllers, to design the closed-loop control architecture. Successively, an experimental campaign is defined to identify/substantiate the main motor parameters (resistance and inductance of phases, torque and speed constants, back-electromotive force waveforms) and to validate the closed-loop control design.