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Modelling and Control of Quadcopter

This document discusses modelling and controlling a quadcopter. It describes a quadcopter as a helicopter with four rotors in a square formation that is controlled by adjusting rotor speeds. Various control methods for quadcopters are discussed, including PID controllers, backstepping control, LQR controllers, and nonlinear controllers. Simulation results show that a PD controller is effective at stabilizing altitude but not position, while a proposed heuristic method generates good flight trajectories when integrated with a PD controller to handle disturbances. The model has limitations and testing on a real prototype is recommended to validate simulations against real-world conditions.

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Vivek Jha
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120 views

Modelling and Control of Quadcopter

This document discusses modelling and controlling a quadcopter. It describes a quadcopter as a helicopter with four rotors in a square formation that is controlled by adjusting rotor speeds. Various control methods for quadcopters are discussed, including PID controllers, backstepping control, LQR controllers, and nonlinear controllers. Simulation results show that a PD controller is effective at stabilizing altitude but not position, while a proposed heuristic method generates good flight trajectories when integrated with a PD controller to handle disturbances. The model has limitations and testing on a real prototype is recommended to validate simulations against real-world conditions.

Uploaded by

Vivek Jha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MODELLING AND CONTROL OF QUADCOPTER

Quadcopter, also known as quadrotor, is a helicopter with four rotors. The rotors
are directed upwards and they are placed in a square formation with equal distance
from the center of mass of the quadcopter. The quadcopter is controlled by adjusting
the angular velocities of the rotors which are spun by electric motors. Quadcopter
is a typical design for small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) because of the simple
structure. Quadcopters are used in surveillance, search and rescue, construction
inspections and several other applications.
Quadcopter has received considerable attention from researchers as the complex
phenomena of the quadcopter has generated several areas of interest. The basic
dynamical model of the quadcopter is the starting point for all of the studies but
more complex aerodynamic properties has been introduced as well.
Different control methods has been researched including
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

PID Controllers
Back Stepping control
LQR controllers
Nonlinear controllers with nested saturations

The challenge in controlling a quadcopter is that the quadcopter has six degrees of freedom
but there are only four control inputs. The behaviour of the model is examined by stimulating
the flight of the quadcopter. Stabilisation of the quadcopter is conducted by utilising a PD
controller. The PD controller is a simple control method which is easy to implement as the
control method of the quadcopter. A simple heuristic method is developed to control the
trajectory of the flight. Then a PD controller is integrated into the heuristic method to reduce
the effect of the fluctuations in quadcopter behaviour caused by random external forces.
The model can be verified by simulating the flight of a quadcopter with MATLAB.
Stabilisation of altitude of the quadcopter is done by utilising a PD controller. A heuristic
method is developed to control the trajectory of the quadcopter. The PD contoller is
integrated into the heuristic method for better response to disturbances in the flight
conditions of the quadcopter.

RESULTS OF SIMULATION
The simulation proved the presented mathematical model to be realistic in modelling
the position and attitude of the quadcopter. The simulation results also showed
that the PD controller was efficient in stabilising the quadcopter to the desired
altitude and attitude. However, the PD controller did not considered positions x
and y. Thus, the values of x and y variated from their original values during the
stabilisation process. This was a result of the deviation of the roll and pitch angles
from zero values.
According to the simulation results, the proposed heuristic method produced good
flight trajectories. The heuristic method required only three parameters to generate
the values for the jounce of the position. The position and its other derivatives were
calculated from the jounce values. The total thrust and the pitch and roll angles to
achieve given accelerations were solved from the linear differential equations. Then,
the torques were determined by the angular accelerations and angular velocities
calculated from the angles. Finally, the required control inputs were solved from the

total thrust and the torques. The simulation results indicated that the quadcopter
could be controlled accurately with the control inputs given by the method.
The proposed heuristic method does not consider unmodelled disturbances, such
as wind, and thus the PD controller was integrated into the control method. The
integrated PD controller operated well in the example simulation. The quadcopter
followed the given trajectory and began to stabilise after reaching the final destination.
However, the PD controller can perform poorly if the parameter values are
not properly selected and are too small or high.
The presented mathematical model only consists of the basic structures of the quadcopter
dynamics. Several aerodynamical effects were excluded which can lead to
unrealiable behaviour. Also the electric motors spinning the fours rotors were not
modelled. The behaviour of a motor is easily included in the model but would require
estimation of the parameter values of the motor. The position and attitude
information was assumed to be accurate in the model and the simulations. However,
the measuring devices in real life are not perfectly accurate as random variations
and errors occur. Hence, the effects of imprecise information to the flight of the
quadcopter should be studied as well. Also methods to enhance the accuracy of the
measurements should be researched and implemented to improve all aspects required
for robust quadcopter manoeuvres.
The presented model and control methods were tested only with simulations. Real
experimental prototype of a quadcopter should be constructed to achieve more realistic
and reliable results. Even though the construction of a real quadcopter and the
estimation of all the model parameters are laborious tasks, a real quadcopter would
bring significant benefits to the research. With a real prototype, the theoretical
framework and the simulation results could be compared to real-life measurements.

Submitted by
Bibek Kumar Jha

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