Construction, Identification And Instrumentation Of A Low Cost Quadcopter Research Platform

This paper presents the design of a low cost quadcopter prototype intended as a research platform that allows the study of control algorithms for autonomous flight. The dynamics of this quadcopter were described with a mathematical model, and the prototype's parameters were identified through a series of proposed methods and test-beds. A sensor array that is theoretically capable of estimating the robot's state using only on-board, off-the-shelf sensors, is presented. A procedure for calibrating a 3-axis magnetometer was implemented. Three methods for minimizing the effects of mechanical vibrations on the sensors were compared. At last, the effectiveness of the platform was examined by implementing a state estimator and a simple PID angular controller, and by testing the flight stability of the quadcopter on two test-beds built for this purpose.