Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles

Shashi Ranjan Kumar

Assistant Professor
Department of Aerospace Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Powai, Mumbai- 400076

https://www.aero.iitb.ac.in/˜shashi
srk@aero.iitb.ac.in
UAV Longitudinal Autopilot: Airspeed Hold using Commanded Pitch

• Disturbance rejection requires integrator

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 1 / 27
UAV Longitudinal Autopilot: Airspeed Hold using Commanded Pitch

• Transfer function in Laplace domain

!
KθDC gkpV2 s + kiV2 /kpV2
V̄a (s) = −
V̄ac (s)
s2 + aV1 − KθDC gkpV2 s − KθDC gkiV2
!
s
+
dV (s)
s2 + aV1 − KθDC gkpV2 s − KθDC gkiV2

• What about DC gain and disturbance rejection?

• DC gain of 1 and disturbance rejection
• To hold constant airspeed, θ → α ̸= 0.
• How will this be generated?
• Integrator will windup to a command value of proper α
• Bandwidth requirement
ωnθ
ωnV2 = , W V2 > 5
WV 2

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 2 / 27
UAV Longitudinal Autopilot: Pitch Attitude Hold

• How to obtain controller gains?

• Using the placement of closed-loop poles at desired locations

s2 + 2ζV2 ωnV2 s + ωn2 V2 = 0

• Equating coefficients of characteristic equation

ωn2 V2 = −KθDC gkiV2 , 2ζV2 ωnV2 = aV1 − KθDC gkpV2

• Gains selection

ωn2 V2 aV1 − 2ζV2 ωnV2

kiV2 = − , kpV2 =
KθDC g KθDC g

• Pitch angle command (output of airspeed hold using pitch loop)

kiV2
θc = kpV2 (Vac − Va ) + (Vac − Va )
s

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 3 / 27
UAV Longitudinal Autopilot: Airspeed Hold using Throttle

• Block diagram for this design

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 4 / 27
UAV Longitudinal Autopilot: Airspeed Hold using Throttle

• Transfer function with proportional (P) control

   
aV2 kpV 1
V̄a (s) = V̄ac (s) + dV (s)
s + (aV1 + aV2 kpV ) s + (aV1 + aV2 kpV )

• Nonunity DC gain and no step disturbance rejection

• What do you expect with proportional and integral (PI) type feedback?
• Transfer function with PI feedback control
 
aV2 (kpV s + kiV )
V̄a (s) = V̄ac (s)
s2 + (aV1 + aV2 kpV ) s + aV2 kiV
 
s
+ dV (s)
s2 + (aV1 + aV2 kpV ) s + aV2 kiV

• Unity DC gain and step disturbance rejection

• Gains selection using pole placement approach
• Equating coefficients

2ζV ωnV = aV1 + aV2 kpV , ωn2 V = aV2 kpV

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 5 / 27
UAV Longitudinal Autopilot: Airspeed Hold using Throttle

• Controller gains selection

ωn2 V 2ζV ωnV − aV1

kiV = , kpV =
aV2 aV2

ki V

δ̄t = kpV V̄ac − V̄a + V̄ac − V̄a
s
• Can we implement the controller without the knowledge of trim velocity?
• Yes, fortunately, we can do so. How?
• As V̄ac = Vac − Va⋆ and V̄a = Va − Va⋆ , error signal
 
e = V̄ac − V̄a = Vac − Va
 
• Throttle command δt = δt⋆ + δ̄t
• Throttle input (output of airspeed hold)

ki V
δt = δt⋆ + kpV (Vac − Va ) + (Vac − Va )
s
Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 6 / 27
UAV Longitudinal Autopilot: Altitude Control State Machine

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 7 / 27
UAV Longitudinal Autopilot: Altitude Control State Machine

• Longitudinal autopilot: Control of motions in body ib − kb plane

• Four basic designs together complete overall longitudinal autopilot
• Climb zone: δt = 1 and airspeed hold from commanded pitch mode to
control airspeed, thus avoiding stall conditions.
• Vehicle climbs at its maximum possible climb rate until it is close to
altitude set point.
• Descend zone: δt = 0 and airspeed hold from commanded pitch mode.
• Descend at a steady rate until vehicle reaches altitude hold zone.
• Altitude hold zone: Airspeed-from-throttle mode to regulate airspeed.
• Altitude-from-pitch mode is used to regulate altitude around hc .
• Pitch attitude control loop is active in all four zones.

Reference

Randal Beard and Timothy W. McLain, “Small Unmanned Aircraft:

Theory and Practice”, Princeton University Press, 2012.

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 8 / 27
Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles

• Requirement to maintain a certain forward airspeed, and thus no VTOL

• Disadvantage: Requirement of a runway or launcher for takeoff and landing
• VTOL Ability and no runway or launcher required for takeoff and landing.
• Easy to use and features high reliability and low maintenance cost
• Compromise in payload capacity and time of endurance

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 9 / 27
Multirotors

• Generation of thrust, rolling motion, pitching motion, and yawing moment

• Quadcopter: propelled by four propellers
• Difference due to allocation of thrust and moment to propellers
• 6 DOF for multicopters
• Are they fully actuated? Generally, not
• Dexterous rotor are fully actuated.

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 10 / 27
Quadrotor: Translation of Thrust and Moment

• How can we translate thrust on CG?

• A moment can be translated directly into center axis.
• What about translation of forces?
• A force can be translated on the rigid body and turn into a force and an
associated moment.

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 11 / 27
Quadrotor: Translation of Thrust and Moment

• Consider propeller 1 in a hovering case.

• Reaction torque of propeller can be translated directly into center axis.
• Translation of thrust generates both pitching and rolling moments.
• Associated moments for four thrusts can be compensate each other.
• In case of hovering flight, the sum of four produced thrusts compensate
for weight of the quadcopter.
• Thrusts of four propellers are same and their moments sum to zero.

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 12 / 27
Quadrotor: Upward or Downward Movement

• Propeller angular speeds increased/decreased by the same amount.

• Increased/decreased thrust with total sum of moments as zero.
• Movement of quadcopter depending on relative value of thrust and weight
of the quadcopter.

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 13 / 27
Quadrotor: Forward-and-Backward Movement

• Angular speeds of propellers 1, 4 are decreased by same amount, while

angular speeds of propellers 2, 3 are increased by same amount.
• Generation of moment pitches quadcopter forward resulting in forward
component of thrust.
• Decrease of vertical component of thrust, thus it is not be equal to the
weight of quadcopter.
• Requirement of increase in four propeller angular speeds by the same
amount to compensate for the weight.
Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 14 / 27
Quadrotor: Leftward-and-Rightward Movement

• Angular speeds of propellers 1, 2 are decreased by the same amount, while

the angular speeds of propellers 3, 4 are increased by the same amount.
• Roll of quadcopter to the right, and thus right component of thrust.
• Decrease in vertical thrust component, requirement to increase all
propeller angular speeds by same amount

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 15 / 27
Quadrotor: Yaw Movement

• Angular speeds of propellers 2, 4 are decreased by the same amount, while

the angular speeds of propellers 1, 3 are increased by the same amount.
• Zero moments both in FB, and in LR directions.
• Newton’s third law: Equal and opposite torque reactions
• Increase (decrease) in CW (CCW) yaw moments of propellers 1,3 (2,4)
• Quadrotor turns clockwise and then changes its orientation
Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 16 / 27
Quadrotor: Operation and Performance

Larger propeller radius

• Slower dynamic response

• More fatigues due to blade flapping effect
Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 17 / 27
Quadrotor: Composition

• What are the basic compositions of a multicopter system?

• Fuselage:
⇒ Platform to carry all equipment of a multicopter
⇒ Safety, durability, usability, and performance
⇒ Weight of fuselage: size and material, Smaller weight → larger payload

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 18 / 27
Quadrotor: Composition

Configuration of multirotors

Diagonal size of quadrotor

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 19 / 27
Quadrotor: Landing Gear

• Landing gear
⇒ Support whole multicopter when landing
on ground or taking off and keeping the
level balance of the multicopter.
⇒ Keep propellers off ground at a safe
distance.
⇒ Weaken ground effect when multicopters
take off or land.
⇒ Consume and absorb impact energy when
multicopters land on the ground.

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 20 / 27
Quadrotor: Duct

• Duct:
⇒ To protect the blade and ensuring personal safety
⇒ To enhance the efficiency of thrust and reduce noise
⇒ Additional thrust induced by the duct
• Higher airflow (lower pressure) inside the inlet as compared to outside
• Reduction of loss in thrust due to tip vortex as compared to propeller in
open space

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 21 / 27
Quadrotor: Propeller

• Propulsion system
⇒ Propeller: Generation of thrust and torque to control multicopters
⇒ Motor: Conversion of electrical energy (stored in battery) into mechanical
energy for propeller
⇒ ESC: To control speed of motors based on PWM signal that autopilots
send, too weak to drive brushless DC motors directly
• Motor efficiency varies with output torque (depends on type, size, speed
and other factors of a propeller).
• Good match: high efficiency condition, less power consumed for same
thrust and then extend the time of endurance of multicopter

• Chord length: chord located at the 2/3 of radius of propeller

• Propeller pitch: Distance a propeller would move in one revolution if it
were moving through a soft solid
Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 22 / 27
Quadrotor: Propeller

⇒ Better response speed of motor with smaller moment of inertia of propeller

⇒ Efficiency of two-blade propellers is better than three-blade propellers

⇒ Maximum thrust of the propeller is increased with the number of blades
⇒ To obtain same thrust, a three-blade propeller has a less diameter as
compared with corresponding two-blade propeller.
⇒ Although the efficiency is reduced, time of endurance may be improved to
a certain extent by reduction of size and weight of airframe.

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 23 / 27
Quadrotor

• Static and dynamic balance: Caused by asymmetrical centrifugal force,

due to asymmetrical distribution of mass and shape.
• Static imbalance: When center of gravity (CG) of the propeller does not
coincide with axis of rotation.
• Dynamic imbalance: When CG of propeller does not coincide with enter
of inertia.
• Source of vibration, noisy measurements, increased power consumption

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 24 / 27
Quadrotor

• What should be taken into consideration when designing airframe of a

multicopter?
• Types of airframe: Cross configurations

• Two booms cross at the center, and propellers are symmetrically

distributed at the end of four arms.
• Space in the middle of fuselage: Placement of autopilot and other
peripheral equipment.
• Plus and X- configuration quadcopters
• Which configuration is better and why?
Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 25 / 27
Quadrotor: Airframe

• X-configuration quadcopters is more popular.

• X-configuration quadcopters have higher maneuverability (more rotors
involved in pitch and roll control)
• X-configuration results in less occlusion of forward field-of-view.

• More rigid than traditional cross fuselage

and more helpful for reducing the vibration
generated by motors and propellers.
• What are the issues then?
• Heavier fuselage as compared to cross
configuration
• Reduction in maneuverability in some
degree
Ring configuration
• Low endurance with same power due to
higher weight

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 26 / 27
Reference

Reference

• Randal Beard and Timothy W. McLain, “Small Unmanned

Aircraft: Theory and Practice”, Princeton University Press, 2012.
• Quan Quan, “Introduction to Multicopter Design and Control”,
Springer, 2017.

Thank you for your attention !!!

Shashi Ranjan Kumar (IITB) Guidance and Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Autopilot and Quadrotor Design Lecture 11 27 / 27