4. System reliability

The fault tree analysis highlighted several critical vulnerabilities resulting from isolated failures or combinations of failures. Based on the minimum cuts identified, the following recommendations aim to strengthen the reliability of the system and improve its mission resilience:

• introduce partial redundancy in the propulsion system: in the current quadcopter configuration, the loss of a single motor or ESC can lead to critical instability. Possible improvements include:

  • the transition to a hexarotor configuration (six motors), enabling controlled flight even after the loss of an actuator,

  • the implementation of fault-tolerant control at the engine level (dynamic thrust reallocation),

  • continuous monitoring of ESC health to detect incipient...