Quad-Rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Helicopter Modelling & Control

Abstract

This paper presents the investigation of the modelling and control of a quad-rotor helicopter and forms part of research involving the development of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to be used in search and rescue applications. Quad-rotor helicopters consist of two pairs of counter rotating rotors situated at the ends of a cross, symmetric about the centre of gravity, which coincides with the origin of the reference system used. These rotors provide the predominant aerodynamic forces which act on the rotorcraft, and are modelled using momentum theory as well as blade element theory. From this, one can determine the expected payload capacity and lift performance of the rotorcraft. The Euler-Lagrange method has been used to derive the defining equations of motion of the six degree-of-freedom system. The Lagrangian was obtained by modelling the kinetic and potential energy of the system and the external forces obtained from the aerodynamic analysis. Based on this model, a control strategy was developed using linear PD controllers. A numerical simulation was then conducted using MATLAB® Simulink®. First, the derived model was simulated to investigate the behaviour of the rotorcraft, and then a second investigation was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the implemented control system. The results and findings of these investigations are then presented and discussed.