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An Investigation into Algorithms Governing

Quadcopter Flight.
Richard Ferguson-Hannah Dr. John Isaacs
School of Science Engineering and Technology
University of Abertay Dundee
DUNDEE, DD1 1HG, UK
ABSTRACT
Quad-copters are popular for research into
control theory Capable of extraordinary feats of
aerial agility they also have a variety of practical
uses. Quad-copters are inherently unstable and
require feedback loop control algorithms for
attitude control. This project aims to create a set
of algorithms based on existing mathematical
models of quadrotor fight !hich !ill enable
stable quad-copter fight and also allo! a quad-
copter to perform a limited set of classical
aerobatic maneuvers "loop barrel roll
#mmelman turn split-s$. % &' simulation !ill be
created in (nity &' to test algorithms in a safe
environment - follo!ing !hich a prototype quad-
copter !ill be constructed using cheaply
available consumer components to test the
validity of the algorithms. Quad-copters are
becoming a commercial concern. )esearch into
quad-copter fight dynamics is essential to
enabling this market to gro!.
Keywords
Quadcopter Quadrocopter %lgorithms *achine
+earning aerodynamics fight
1. INTRODUCTION
Quad-copters are not a ne! invention. #ndeed
the ,rst fight capable designs can be traced
back to as early as the -./01s ho!ever it is only
recently "in the last -0--2 years$ that they have
become a practical design paradigm for
light!eight autonomous 3T4+ aircraft due to
advances in microprocessor and micro-electro-
mechanical-system "*5*6$ sensor capabilities
"7o8mann 9.*. et al. /0--$ .
Quad-copters are gro!ing in popularity as they
are relatively simple constructions in
comparison !ith other rotor-craft such as
helicopters. Quad rotors are ,xed as opposed to
helicopters !hich have complicated linkages
!hich control the angle of attack of the blades
to alter the dynamics of helicopter fight and to
compensate for dis-symmetry of lift.
Figure 1 Effect of varying ba!e "itc# on ift !yna$ic
Quad-copters by comparison alter their fight
dynamics by varying the speed of their rotors to
cause the machine to roll pitch and ya!.
The applications of autonomous aerial vehicles
"%%3$ are !ide-ranging particularly if ,tted !ith
a camera and able to function !hen out of line
of site !ith the operator. Quad-copters are
already in use for surveillance and delivery
operations ho!ever it has been proposed that
they can be used for search and rescue
operations or inspections of di:cult or
dangerous environments and the proliferation
of high capacity !ireless net!orking in recent
years promises to open up ne! possibilities for
%%3s.
This project;s primary objective is to develop an
existing mathematical model of quad-copter
fight and create a !orking quad-copter
prototype !hich is capable of stable fight
controlled via !ireless net!ork connection. #n
addition it is hoped that the prototype !ill be
capable of performing advanced aerobatic
maneuvers.
2. BACKGR!"#
Quad-copters are already commercially
available as radio controlled toys !hich are
popular !ith )C enthusiasts. 7o!ever quad-
copters are quickly becoming a serious
commercial concern. Corporate enterprises such
as %ma<on are currently engaging in drone
research as a method for delivering their
products "Charles %rthur. /0-=$ '7+ already
has a delivery drone in operation !hich delivers
parcel to the 9erman island of >uist in the ?orth
6ea"%lex 7ern. /0-=.$ and the @%% has granted
A licenses to 7olly!ood ,lm-makers to operate
drones for their !ork ">ack ?icas. /0-=$. 6ome
industry analysts have predicted that the
commercial drone market could be !orth B-0
billion in the next three years and the @%% has
estimated that there could be as many as C200
commercial drones operating in the (6% !ithin
the next ,ve years "'enise Cho!. /0-&$.
Consequently the @%% has been directed to
develop regulations governing commercial
testing and use of drones by /0-2 "6haun
Daterman. /0-/.$
*any people are familiar !ith ,xed !ing (%3s
!hich have been used by the military for a
number of years no! ho!ever these drones are
of little practical use in the commercial arena.
@or commercial operators a 3T4+ "3ertical Take
48 and +anding$ air-frame is highly desirable.
There has been signi,cant research into the
development of autonomous helicopters
although there are some concerns that
helicopters can be ha<ardous due to the
exposed rotor blades "Eounds E. et al. /00/$.
Quad-copters represent a viable solution as their
rotors can be enclosed and they have
comparable capabilities to helicopters. They are
also less mechanically demanding than
helicopters !ith no requirement for re,nements
such as a s!ash plate mechanism"6a #. F
Corke E. /0--.$.
+eishman "/00AG p&&$ states in Erinciples of
helicopter aerodynamics that G-
HThe rotor of a helicopter provides three basic
functions:
-. the generation of a vertical lifting force
(thrust) in opposition to the aircraft
weight;
/. the generation of a horizontal propulsive
force for forward fight; and
&. a means of generating forces and
moments to control the attitude and
position of the helicopter.I
The same holds true for quad-copters 7o!ever
!hereas a helicopter requires complicated
linkages to achieve these basic functions a
quad-copter can achieve the same ends by
having multiple simple rotors and varying the
speed of those rotors to generate the forces
necessary to maneuver.
2.$ Attitude control
4ne of the primary challenges !hen dealing
!ith quad-copter fight is attitude control. Quad-
copters like helicopters are inherently unstable
!hen hovering. Dhereas a helicopter copes !ith
instability through techniques such as blade
fapping"6ikorsky #gor #. -.=C$ a quad-copters
rotors are ,xed and they rely on variance in
rotor speed to maintain stability !hich
necessarily requires some form of automatic
feedback control system and a mathematical
model of the quad-copters fight dynamics.
There are several mathematical models of quad-
copter fight available and they fall broadly into
one of t!o groupings. Those !hich use 5uler
%ngles "Eounds E. et al. /00/$ to represent
rotations in &' space and those !hich use
quaternions "@resk 5. F ?ikolakopoulos 9.
/0-&.$.
5uler rotations are su:cient for basic quad-
copter fight !hen the rotation of the quad-
copter can be guaranteed to remain !ithin the
bounds of 5uler angle rotation. 7o!ever for
advanced maneuvering 5uler rotations become
problematic due to the phenomenon of gimbal
lock.
9imbal lock occurs !hen t!o axes of rotation
align and can cause the rigid-body in motion to
move in an unexpected manner.
Figure % une&"ecte! $ove$ent in gi$ba oc'e! (y(te$
in!icate! by t#e yeo) ine.
The 9uerrilla C9 Eroject. "/00.$ J from !hich
the above ,gure is taken J provides an excellent
video !hich fully explains the gimbal lock
phenomenon. The video also proposes methods
to compensate for gimbal lock but it must be
noted that the problem cannot be eliminated
entirely !hen using 5uler rotations.
@or the purposes of this project a quaternion
based rotation scheme !ill be used as
quaternions do not su8er from this
phenomenon"@resk 5. F ?ikolakopoulos 9.
/0-&.$. 4ther rotational schemes are possible
"eg. 'irectional Cosine *atrix$ but as
quaternions are !idely used in &' computing
applications it is convenient to use them for this
project.
2.2 Feed%ac& Control
%s previously mentioned quad-copters are
inherently unstable and require some form of
feedback control to vary the speed of the rotors
and keep the quad-copter stable !hen in fight.
To achieve this the quad-copter requires sensors
!hich continuously monitor the attitude of the
quad-copter "roll pitch and ya!$ and also its
altitude. @eedback from these sensors can then
be analy<ed and used to correct the quad-
copters trajectory.
Control theory provides several methods of
handling the feedback ho!ever the E#'
"Eroportional #ntegral 'erivative$ control
method appears to be the most prevalent in
existing designs and o8ers a simple !ell
understood and e:cient algorithm. E#'
algorithms govern more than .0K of industrial
controllers "%ng L.7. Chong 9. F +i M. /002$
and have already proved to be a good ,t for
quad-copter feedback control.
The E#' controller !orks by measuring the
current state of the system and comparing it to
the desired state !hich then generates an error
signal. Ny analy<ing the error a correction can
be generated !hich is composed of three terms
The proportional term describes a
response that is proportional to the
current error value. #n terms of the
quad-copter model J an example of this
might be a drop in altitude !hich evokes
a proportional increase in rotor speed to
stabili<e the altitude. That is to say J the
faster the quad-copter is falling then the
faster the rotors need to spin to
generate the necessary thrust to halt
the descent.
The integral term describes a response
that is proportional not only to the
magnitude of the error but also its
duration. Continuing to take the
example of a falling quad-copter #f a
quad-copter is falling fast enough it
might require that the rotors need to
operate at full po!er J but the system
needs to kno! ho! long they need to
operate at full po!er to successfully halt
the descent.
The 'erivative component comes into
play as the system approaches its target
state. #t essentially looks ahead to
determine !hen the system !ill reach
its target and modi,es the error
accordingly. To use the falling quad-
copter example once more simply using
the ' and I components !ould result in
the quad-copter overshooting its target
altitude as it;s up!ards momentum
!ould carry it on!ard once the rotors
had slo!ed do!n. The derivative
component !ould be able to predict this
eventuality and slo! do!n the rotors a
little early so that the momentum of the
quad-copter !ould carry it to the desired
altitude instead of overshooting.
2.( )achine *earning
Quad-copters can also bene,t from advances in
%# research to help re,ne their fight dynamics.
Dhile primarily directed to!ards the Hsee and
avoidI problem "*iguel %. /0-/.$ there has
also been signi,cant research into re,ning the
fight characteristics of quad-copters
@atan 6e,dgari and Narenji describe an
%daptive ?euro E#' altitude controller capable of
adapting to changes in the local environment
!ithout the need for a ne! mathematical fight
model to be constructed"@atan *. 6e,dgari
N.+. F Narenji %.3. /0-&.$.
*ore advanced maneuvers such as fips "or
even multiple fips$ can be re,ned using
machine learning techniques "+upashin 6. et al.
/0-0$. This !ill be of particular interest !hen it
comes to attempting complex aerial maneuvers
!ith this project.
(. )+,-#
This project !ill be carried out in & main phases.
*athematical modeling
6imulation
Erototype
(.$ )athematical )odel
Ehase - !ill be to select and re,ne a
mathematical model of quad-copter fight and
translate this into computer code. %s an 5uler
angle model !ould very likely be unsuitable for
advanced maneuvering a quaternion based
model is required. %t present the model
presented by @resk and ?ikolakopoulos in their
paper HFull Quaternion ased !ttitude "ontrol
for a Quad#rotorI "@resk 5. F ?ikolakopoulos 9.
/0-&$ looks to be a strong candidate.
This project !ill endeavor to build upon their
!ork and possibly attempt to synthesi<e it !ith
@atan 6e,dgari and Narenji;s %daptive ?euro
E#' controller "@atan *. 6e,dgari N.+. F
Narenji %.3. /0-&.$.
(.2 .imulation
Ehase / !ill be to model a quad-copter in (nity
&' as accurately as possible using the
mathematical model from phase - and
experimentally test fight trajectories !hich !ill
allo! the quad-copter to perform advanced
aerobatic maneuvers.
There are = maneuvers !hich the project aims
to have the quad-copter perform
Narrel roll
+oop
#mmelman turn
6plit-s
#t is expected that the barrel roll and loop
maneuver can be extrapolated from research
into fips !hich has already been done
"+upashin 6. et al. /0-0$. #t is anticipated
ho!ever that the #mmelman turn and split-s
maneuvers !ill be much more di:cult to
execute successfully.

Figure * Barre Ro +aneuver.

Figure , I$$e$an turn
%t this stage machine learning algorithms may
be employed to re,ne trajectories in the
simulation to further improve the performance
of the system. #t is uncertain at present !hether
the Ei !ill have su:cient computing po!er to
run machine learning algorithms in conjunction
!ith the fight control soft!are so the bulk of
this research should be completed at this stage
to re,ne the fight control soft!are.
(nity &' uses the open source .?5T compatible
platform *ono and natively uses quaternions to
represent rotations in the &' space !hich makes
it a perfect choice to visually simulate a quad-
copter
(.( 'rototype
The prototype quad-copter !ill consist of =
O00L3 brush-less motors controlled by =0%
electronic speed controllers "56Cs$. +o! level
control of the 56Cs !ill be provided by means of
an arduino uno microprocessor board.
To process input from sensors and calculate
attitude control a raspberry pi !ill be used. %s
the )aspberry Ei is a linux based system it is
capable of running *ono !hich should allo!
code from the simulation to be transplanted
from the simulation !ith minimal alteration
provided the code architecture is properly
designed.
/. C"C*!.I"
This project !ill endeavor to build upon previous
research in the ,eld of quad-copter fight
dynamics to create a prototype quad-copter
capable of high performance maneuvering.
0. R+F+R+"C+.
7o8mann 9.*. et al. /0--. Erecision fight
control for a multi-vehicle quadrotor helicopter
testbed. "ontrol $ngineering %ractice -.".$
p.-0/&--0&A.
%lex 7ern. /0-=. &'( launches )rst commercial
drone *parcelcopter* deliver+ service. %vailableG
httpGPP!!!.theguardian.comPtechnologyP/0-=Pse
pP/2Pgerman-dhl-launches-,rst-commercial-
drone-delivery-service. +ast accessed
02P-0P/0-=.
Charles %rthur. /0-=. !mazon see,s -.
permission to test %rime !ir deliver+ drones.
%vailableG
httpGPP!!!.theguardian.comPtechnologyP/0-=Pju
lP--Pama<on-prime-air-delivery-drones. +ast
accessed 02P-0P/0-=.
>ack ?icas. "/0-=$. F!! "lears .i/ Film
"ompanies to -se &rones. %vailableG
httpGPPonline.!sj.comParticlesPfaa-set-to-approve-
,lmmaking-drones--=--AAC.CA. +ast accessed
02P-0P/0-=.
Eounds E. et al. /00/. 'esign of a four-rotor
aerial robot. Q "onference on 0obotics 1
"?ovember$ p./C-/..
'enise Cho!. /0-&. "ommercial &rones "ould
2row 3nto 456 illion 3ndustr+7 $/perts .a+.
%vailableG httpGPP!!!.livescience.comP=2/=/-
future-of-drones.html. +ast accessed 0=P-0P/0-=
6haun Daterman. /0-/. &rones over -... get
89 b+ "ongress. %vailableG
httpGPP!!!.!ashingtontimes.comPne!sP/0-/Pfeb
PCPcoming-to-a-sky-near-youPRpageSall. +ast
accessed 0=P-0P/0-=.
+eishman >.9. /00A. %rinciples of 'elicopter
!erod+namics Cambridge (niversity Eress.
6a #. F Corke E. /0--. 5stimation and Control
for an 4pen-6ource Quadcopter. %roceedings of
the !ustralasian "onference on 0obotics and
!utomation :655 p.--O.
6ikorsky #gor #. -.=C Nlade fapping angle
control (6 Eatent /=-2-=O
@resk 5. F ?ikolakopoulos 9. /0-&. @ull
Quaternion Nased %ttitude Control for a Quad-
rotor #n $uropean "ontrol "onference. pp. &OA=-
&OA..
The 9uerrilla C9 Eroject. /00.. 5uler "gimbal
lock$ 5xplained. T4nlineU. T02P-0P/0-=U.
%vailable fromG httpsGPP!!!.youtube.comP!atchR
vS<cOb/>oCmno
+upashin 6. et al. /0-0. % simple learning
strategy for high-speed quadrocopter multi-fips.
#n %roceedings # 3$$$ 3nternational "onference
on 0obotics and !utomation. pp. -A=/--A=O.
%ng L.7. Chong 9. F +i M. /002. E#' control
system analysis design and technology. 3$$$
Transactions on "ontrol .+stems Technolog+
-&"=$ p.22.-2CA.
*iguel %. /0-/. Quadcopter see and avoid
using a fu<<y controller. #n 56th 3nternational
F(3;. "onference on -ncertaint+ <odeling in
9nowledge $ngineering and &ecision <a,ing.
pp. --C.
@atan *. 6e,dgari N.+. F Narenji %.3. /0-&.
%n %daptive ?euro E#' for Controlling the
%ltitude of Quadcopter )obot 4utput of Elant.
p.AA/-AA2.
+upashin 6. et al. /0-0. % simple learning
strategy for high-speed quadrocopter multi-fips.
#n %roceedings # 3$$$ 3nternational "onference
on 0obotics and !utomation. pp. -A=/--A=O.

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