Implementation of a Quadcopter Control System

Abstract

The control system of a quadcopter is the most important part. Control system governing quadcopter stability and control movement by correcting measurement errors and comparing to the desired values achieving pilot desired and safe flight. This thesis concerned with the implementation of a quadcopter control system that is tested through visual simulation with real physics then hardware capabilities test that describes the capabilities of the hardware mounted on the quadcopter after the construction is over. This work was divided into two subsections: simulation and construction; the simulation was conducted using Protues circuit simulation software that failed and was replaced by unity 3D due to its limitation to simulate electronic speed controller ( ESCs) and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) which are essential to simulate the quadcopter system, Unity 3D simulation software provided 3D visual simulation of the quadcopter depending only on the code and no components simulation was need only the mass and drag properties of the frame. The construction of the quadcopter consisted of choosing a suitable frame to carry the load of the quadcopter that was plastic foam due its light weight and flexibility casted with fiber glass to reinforce to ensure strength. The quadcopter components were mounted on it with distributed load to ensure equilibrium then the transmitter was setup to determine what position of the transmitter sticks belonged to which flight movement and all the ESCs were calibrated to operate at the same speed then the Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller code was uploaded and operation was successful which gives us the time to add auto leveling. Auto leveling of the quadcopter were possible by taking the readings of the gyroscope and applying correction when there is no user input received; the Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) applies gyroscope correction to stabilize the aircraft which is zero gyroscope orientation in all axes.