Multicopter Design and Control Practice: A Series Experiments based on MATLAB and Pixhawk

✍ Scribed by Quan Quan, Xun-Hua Dai, Shuai Wang

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2020
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 414
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811531378

As the sister book to “Introduction to Multicopter Design and Control,” published by Springer in 2017, this book focuses on using a practical process to help readers to deepen their understanding of multicopter design and control. Novel tools with tutorials on multicopters are presented, which can help readers move from theory to practice.

Experiments presented in this book employ:

(1) The most widely-used flight platform – multicopters – as a flight platform;

(2) The most widely-used flight pilot hardware – Pixhawk – as a control platform; and

(3) One of the most widely-used programming languages in the field of control engi-neering – MATLAB + Simulink – as a programming language.

Based on the current advanced development concept Model-Based Design (MBD)process, the three aspects mentioned above are closely linked.

Each experiment is implemented in MATLAB and Simulink, and the numerical simula-tion test is carried out on a built simulation platform. Readers can upload the controller to the Pixhawk autopilot using automatic code generation technology and form a closed loop with a given real-time simulator for Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) testing. After that, the actual flight with the Pixhawk autopilot can be performed.

This is by far the most complete and clear guide to modern drone fundamentals I’ve seen.It covers every element of these advanced aerial robots and walks through examples and tutorials based on the industry’s leading open-source software and tools. Read this book, and you’ll be well prepared to work at the leading edge of this exciting new industry. (Chris Anderson, CEO 3DR and Chairman, the Linux Foundation’s Dronecode Project)

The development of a multicopter and its applications is very challenging in the robotics area due to the multidomain knowledge involved. This book systematically addresses the design, simulation and implementation of multicopters with the industrial leading workflow – Model-Based Design, commonly used in the automotive and aero-defense industries. With this book, researchers and engineers can seamlessly apply the concepts, workflows, and tools in other engineering areas, especially robot design and robotics application development. (Dr. Yanliang Zhang, Founder of Weston Robot, EX-product Manager of Robotics System Toolbox at the MathWorks)

✦ Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 What Are Multicopters
1.1.1 Classification of Common Small Aerial Vehicles
1.1.2 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Model Aircraft
1.2 Why Multicopters
1.3 What This Book Includes
1.3.1 Experimental Platform
1.3.2 Experimental Courses
1.3.3 Features
1.4 Engineering Education Certification Standards
2 Experimental Process
2.1 Overall Introduction
2.1.1 Hardware Platform
2.1.2 Software Platform
2.1.3 Relationship Between Software and Hardware Platforms
2.2 Software Package Installation
2.2.1 Installation Steps
2.2.2 Advanced Settings
2.2.3 Installation Completion
2.2.4 Brief Introduction to Software
2.3 Hardware Platform Configuration
2.3.1 RC System Configuration
2.3.2 Pixhawk Autopilot System Configuration
2.3.3 Airframe and Propulsion System Configuration
3 Experimental Platform Usage
3.1 Brief Introduction to Experimental Platforms
3.1.1 Platform Composition
3.1.2 Platform Advantage
3.2 Simulink-Based Controller Design and Simulation Platform
3.2.1 Controller
3.2.2 Multicopter Model
3.2.3 FlightGear Interface
3.3 PSP Toolbox
3.3.1 Simulink Pixhawk Target Blocks Library of PSP Toolbox
3.3.2 Instructions for Modules in PSP Toolbox
3.3.3 Simulink Configuration for Code Generation of PSP Toolbox
3.4 Pixhawk Hardware System
3.4.1 Hardware System Composition and Connection
3.4.2 Basic Operation Method for RC Transmitter
3.4.3 Method for Uploading Firmware Through QGC
3.4.4 Pixhawk Setting for HIL Simulation Mode
3.4.5 RC Transmitter Configuration and Calibration
3.4.6 Flight Mode Settings
3.5 HIL Simulation Platform
3.5.1 CopterSim
3.5.2 3DDisplay
3.5.3 Flight Tests with HIL Simulation Platform
4 Experimental Process
4.1 Experimental Process
4.2 Experimental Procedure for LED Control Experiment
4.2.1 Experimental Objective
4.2.2 Experimental Procedure
4.2.3 Controller Code Generation and Firmware Uploading
4.2.4 Experimental Result
4.3 Experimental Procedure of Attitude Control Experiment
4.3.1 Simulink-Based Algorithm Design and SIL Simulation
4.3.2 Code Generation and Configuration
4.3.3 HIL Simulation
4.3.4 Flight Test
5 Propulsion System Design Experiment
5.1 Preliminary
5.1.1 Propulsion System
5.1.2 Propeller Radius and Airframe Radius
5.1.3 Propulsion System Modeling
5.2 Basic Experiment
5.2.1 Experimental Objective
5.2.2 Configuration Procedure
5.2.3 Remarks
5.3 Analysis Experiment
5.3.1 Experimental Objective
5.3.2 Calculation and Analysis Procedure
5.4 Design Experiment
5.4.1 Experimental Objective
5.4.2 Design Procedure
5.4.3 Remarks
5.5 Summary
6 Dynamic Modeling Experiment
6.1 Preliminary
6.1.1 Coordinate Frame
6.1.2 Attitude Representations
6.1.3 Multicopter Flight Control Rigid-Body Model
6.1.4 Control Effectiveness Model
6.1.5 Propulsor Model
6.1.6 Aerodynamic Model
6.2 Basic Experiment
6.2.1 Experimental Objective
6.2.2 Experimental Procedure
6.3 Analysis Experiment
6.3.1 Experimental Objective
6.3.2 Calculation Procedure
6.4 Design Experiment
6.4.1 Experimental Objective
6.4.2 General Description of the Multicopter Dynamic Model
6.4.3 Modeling Procedure
6.4.4 Remark
6.5 Summary
7 Sensor Calibration Experiment
7.1 Preliminary
7.1.1 Three-Axis Accelerometer
7.1.2 Three-Axis Magnetometer
7.2 Basic Experiment
7.2.1 Experimental Objective
7.2.2 Experimental Procedure
7.3 Analysis Experiment
7.3.1 Experimental Objective
7.3.2 Experimental Analysis
7.3.3 Experimental Procedure
7.4 Design Experiment
7.4.1 Experimental Objective
7.4.2 Experimental Procedure
7.5 Summary
8 State Estimation and Filter Design Experiment
8.1 Preliminary
8.1.1 Measurement Principle
8.1.2 Linear Complementary Filter
8.1.3 Kalman Filter
8.1.4 Extended Kalman Filter
8.2 Basic Experiment
8.2.1 Experimental Objective
8.2.2 Experimental Procedure
8.2.3 Remark
8.3 Analysis Experiment
8.3.1 Experimental Objective
8.3.2 Experimental Analysis
8.4 Design Experiment
8.4.1 Experimental Objective
8.4.2 Experimental Design
8.4.3 Simulation Procedure
8.5 Summary
9 Attitude Controller Design Experiment
9.1 Preliminary
9.1.1 Attitude Control
9.1.2 Implementation of Control Allocation in Autopilots
9.2 Basic Experiment
9.2.1 Experimental Objective
9.2.2 Experimental Procedure
9.3 Analysis Experiment
9.3.1 Experimental Objective
9.3.2 Experimental Procedure
9.4 Design Experiment
9.4.1 Experimental Objective
9.4.2 Experimental Design
9.4.3 Simulation Procedure
9.4.4 Flight Test Procedure
9.5 Summary
10 Set-Point Controller Design Experiment
10.1 Preliminary
10.1.1 Basic Concept
10.1.2 Traditional PID Controller
10.1.3 PID Controllers in Open-Source Autopilots
10.1.4 PID Controller with Saturation
10.2 Basic Experiment
10.2.1 Experimental Objective
10.2.2 Experimental Procedure
10.3 Analysis Experiment
10.3.1 Experimental Objective
10.3.2 Experimental Procedure
10.3.3 Remarks
10.4 Design Experiment
10.4.1 Experimental Objective
10.4.2 Experimental Design
10.4.3 Simulation Procedure
10.4.4 Flight Test Procedure
10.5 Summary
11 Semi-autonomous Control Mode Design Experiment
11.1 Preliminary
11.1.1 Semi-autonomous Control
11.1.2 Radio Control
11.1.3 Automatic Control
11.1.4 Switching Logic Between RC and AC
11.2 Basic Experiment
11.2.1 Experimental Objective
11.2.2 Experimental Procedure
11.3 Analysis Experiment
11.3.1 Experimental Objective
11.3.2 Experimental Analysis
11.3.3 Experimental Procedure
11.4 Design Experiment
11.4.1 Experimental Objective
11.4.2 Experimental Design
11.4.3 Simulation Procedure
11.4.4 Flight Test Procedure
11.5 Summary
12 Failsafe Logic Design Experiment
12.1 Preliminary
12.1.1 Safety Issues
12.1.2 Failsafe Suggestions
12.1.3 A Safe Semi-autonomous Autopilot Logic Design
12.2 Basic Experiment
12.2.1 Experimental Objective
12.2.2 Experimental Procedure
12.3 Analysis Experiment
12.3.1 Experimental Objective
12.3.2 Experimental Analysis
12.3.3 Experimental Procedure
12.3.4 Remark
12.4 Design Experiment
12.4.1 Experimental Objective
12.4.2 Experimental Design
12.4.3 Simulation Procedure
12.4.4 Flight Test Procedure
12.5 Summary
Appendix A Platform Advanced Functions
A.1 Registration Method of CopterSim
A.2 Custom Multicopter Configuration
A.3 Set Initial States
A.4 3D Scenes Based on UE4
A.5 Developing 3D Scenes Through UE4
A.6 HIL Simulation for Other Types of Multicopters
A.7 HIL Simulations of Other Models
A.8 Swarm Simulation
A.9 Simulation Mode Settings
A.10 Multi-computer Distributed Simulation
A.11 Swarm Control in Simulink
A.12 Vision-based Control Interface
Appendix B How Teachers Use This Book
B.1 Modify the Goals in the Propulsion System Design and Modeling Experiments for Different Students
B.1.1 Modify the Design Experiment of the Multicopter Propulsion System
B.1.2 Modify the Design Experiment for the Multicopter Modeling Experiment
B.2 Opening New Experiments
Appendix References