EPUCOR
The development of the CoAx 600 as part of the EPUCOR project
The EPUCOR Project
The EPUCOR (Elektrische Primärsteuerung im Unbemannten Coaxialrotor-Hubschrauber – EPUCOR – Automatische Flugsteuerung - in German) project was a LuFo (German Federal Aviation Research Program) funded by the German government (funding id: 20Y1705C).
A coaxial rotorcraft with an MTOW of 600kg was developed based on the edm aerotec GmbH CoAX 600.
The flight control systems and functions were develped at the Technical University of Munich.
A TUM-designed robotic control system took over the actuators in the cockpit.
Flight tests were conducted at the Magdeburg-Cochstedt airport (EDBC) in summer 2023.
The permit-to-fly was obtained via the SORA process, with the Institute of Flight System Dynamics of TUM as the operator.
The flight control systems and functions were develped at the Technical University of Munich.
A TUM-designed robotic control system took over the actuators in the cockpit.
Flight tests were conducted at the Magdeburg-Cochstedt airport (EDBC) in summer 2023.
The permit-to-fly was obtained via the SORA process, with the Institute of Flight System Dynamics of TUM as the operator.
The unmanned rotorcraft is a reserch asset, currently serving as a platform for the development of advanced flight control systems and functions. Novel methods were developed during the development of the CoAX 600 UAS to tackle the engineering challenges faced in the project. The project EPUCOR has been fetured by, or served as a basis for the following publications:
Hosseini, B., Steinert, A., Hofmann, R., Fang, X., Steffensen, R., Holzapfel, F., and Göttlicher, C., “Advancements in the Theory and Practice of Flight Vehicle System Identification,” Journal of Aircraft, 2023, pp. 1–18. doi:10.2514/1.C037269.
Hofsäß, H., Hosseini, B., Rhein, J., & Holzapfel, F. (2023). On the Design and Model-Based Validation of Flight Control System Automation for an Unmanned Coaxial Helicopter. In Software Engineering 2023 Workshops. Gesellschaft für Informatik eV.
Bachfischer, M., Hosseini B., and Holzapfel, F., "Development and Validation of an Inflow Model for a Coaxial Teetering Rotor System," AIAA 2022-3685. AIAA AVIATION 2022 Forum. June 2022.
Lukas Maier, Seyedbarzin Hosseini, Aaron Barth, Florian Holzapfel and Manfred Hajek. "On the Flight Test Campaign of a Coaxial Helicopter for the Development of an Unmanned Aerial System," AIAA 2022-3557. AIAA AVIATION 2022 Forum. June 2022.
Hofmann, R., Hosseini, B., Fang, X., and Florian Holzapfel. "Flight Path Reconstruction for a Coaxial Helicopter Equipped with Rotational Accelerometers," AIAA 2023-3292. AIAA AVIATION 2023 Forum. June 2023.