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Design and Analysis of a Quadcopter

Conference Paper · December 2016

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FAIYAZ Ahmed Shivraj Narayan Yeole

Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering & Technology
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 Design and Analysis of a Quadcopter
Md. Faiyaz Ahmed1, Yeole Shivraj Narayan2
1, 2
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Vallurupalli Nageswara Rao Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering & Technology
(VNRVJIET) Bachupally, Hyderabad, 500090 Telangana, India
1
faiyazengineer.7@gmail.com, 2shivrajyeole@vnrvjiet.in

Abstract. Quadcopter is also known as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or

autonomous drone or remote controlled aerial vehicle without the human on
board. Quadcopters have a unique characteristic unlike the other conventional
flying objects like vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). They play a dominant
role in different areas of applications like military operations, traffic updates,
surveillance, mostly rushed areas and in festival places. Design of a Quadcopter
is an important aspect for its aerodynamics of which modeling and analysis are
two key areas involved in its manufacturing. This paper focuses on the design
structure and analysis of Quadcopter propeller and its frame. Modeling is
carried out in CATIA software and analysis of various parts is performed using
ANSYS software. Results obtained are compared with different properties of
frame materials to sustain the loads generated in the Quadcopter. It is found
that the proposed design is safe as very small deformations occurred on the
plates.

Keywords: Quadcopter, frame, electronics, aerodynamics, analysis.

1 Introduction

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) also known as Quadrotor or multirotor aircrafts are
emerging favorites in Quadcopter design because of their ability to fly in congested
areas and the capability of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). Quadcopter consist of
four rotors which are fixed at the end of the frame structure. A pair of rotors rotates in
clockwise direction (CW) as pullers and the other pair rotates in anti-clockwise
direction (CCW) as pushers at the end of arms. This results in resultant torque acting
on the frame as zero. Each motor is connected with a fixed pitch of the propeller. The
basic structure of a Quadcopter is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Quadcopter frame (1)

1.1 Content

Problem definition: In existing systems, there are several types of problems

particularly in the field of surveillance, transportation and human power.
Some of them are listed below:
1) Costly: Delivering packages from one place to the other leads to
fuel consumption, excess time usage, air and sound pollution and
high cost.
2) Large amount of manpower: Transportation of goods is highly
recommended in heavy industries so large number of skilled labor is
required.
3) Topographical limitations: Climatic conditions and topography
aspects may differ from place to place thus increasing the additional
burden on human skills.
4) Human endangerment: Some emotions such as fear, tension, and
nervousness can lead to wrong decisions which may have bad
impact on the work.

Objectives:
1) To study Quadcopter flight aerodynamics.
2) To determine a suitable design for Quadcopter.

2 Quadcopter flight dynamics

Quadcopter operates with two frames of reference. First one is the body frame or its
own frame and the second one is the inertial frame also called as world frame. In body
frame, the rotors will be projecting in the positive z direction with the arms in x and y
directions as shown in Fig.2. and in inertial frame, the gravity will be pointing in the
negative z direction as shown in Fig.3.

Fig. 2. Body frame (2) Fig. 3. Inertial frame (2)

Propellers lift the Quadcopter high into the air. These are used for converting the
rotational motion into the thrust motion using Bernoulli’s principle and Newton’s third
law.
2.1 Calculating the Thrust
Thrust is the force required to drive or supply the motion to the propeller of
Quadcopter. It is generated by the rotors which pin at certain angular velocity. Thrust
developed by a rotor is,
T = ρAVr 2 (1)
where,
ρ = real time air density of air (Kg/m3)
A = Cross sectional area of the propellers
Vr = Instantaneous peripheral velocity of rotors (r=1, 2, 3...)
= r*w (m/s)

2.2 Takeoff and Landing Positions

During the takeoff mode, Quadcopter will undergo a translational motion about the
positive z axis of inertial frame whereas during the landing mode, the Quadcopter
undergoes a translational motion about the negative z axis of inertial frame. This is
achieved with the help of throttle given via radio transmitter in which the
microcontroller automatically increases and decreases the speed of rotors in such a
way that the motion mostly occurs only along the z axis of the inertial frame. The
thrust developed is given by,

2 2 4 2
Net T = ρA r=1 Vr 𝜌𝐴 𝑟=3 𝑉𝑟 (2)

It is important to observe that total tangential acceleration in takeoff or landing and

hovering position is zero which obstructs its translational motion along x and y axis
respectively.

2.3 Degrees of Freedom Control

 Fig. 4. 6DOF control of Quadcopter (3)

2.4 Electronic Components of Quadcopter

1. Motors: Brushless DC motors (BLDC) are widely used in Quadcopter.
These consist of a permanent magnet which rotates around a fixed armature
and has many advantages over brushed DC motors like more torque, reduced
noise, high reliability, longer battery life and increased efficiency for less
power and low weight.

Fig. 5. BLDC Motor (1)

Calculations of Motor: The selection of motors should be in such a way that

it should follow the following thrust to weight relationship.

Ratio = thrust/weight
= ma/mg = a/g (3)

Vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTOL) is possible only when, (a / g) > 1
so that the Quadcopter can easily accelerate in the upward direction. It is
assumed that

Total Thrust = 2* Total weight of Quadcopter (4)

Total thrust
Total thrust by each motor = (5)
4
 Graph. 1. Performance curve of brushless motor

2. Propellers: Propeller or fans generate the thrust for the Quadcopter to lift.
They are classified depending on their diameter and pitch and are
represented in the form of product of diameter and pitch. The diameter of
propeller indicates the virtual circle that the propeller generates whereas the
pitch indicates the amount of travel per single rotation of propeller. To
counter the motor torque, Quadcopter requires two clockwise (CW) and two
anticlockwise (CCW) rotating propellers. Many motors are available with
propeller specifications to have optimum power consumption. If propeller
specifications are not identified, then trial and error method must be used.
10 x 4.5 propellers black CW CCW of 4 pieces is used as per the
requirements.

Fig. 6. Propeller set and performance curve of propeller 8045 on graph (4)

3. Electronic Speed Controllers (ESC’s): Voltage and current supplied by

microcontroller is not enough to drive the Quadcopter. A motor driver is
required to supply required amount of voltage and current and this process is
done by Electronic speed controller (ESC). Four 30A ESCs are used in the
proposed Quadcopter to control the voltage applied to the BLDC motor as
per the power management signals received from the microcontroller digital
pins. As 30A ESC is used, the maximum current it can handle is 23A.
 Fig. 7. Electronic Speed Controllers (5)

The functions of ESC are:

1. Reset to factory default
2. Battery types set (Li Po or NiMh/NiCd)
3. Brake set (yes/no)
4. Threshold set of protection for low voltage (set a protective value for low
voltage)

4. Lithium Ion Polymer (Li Po) Battery: These are the most popular types of
rechargeable batteries for portable electronics, with a high energy density,
tiny memory effect [9] and low self-discharge. It is used at a discharging rate
of 11.1V (3S). It is evident that when 3000mA load is placed across then it
will consume 1 hour to discharge completely.

Fig. 8. Li Po Battery (1)

Maximum source power provided is 90A (3000mAh * 30C). These batteries

cannot be used below 80% of the maximum capacity.

5. Channel Transmitter-Receiver: The 6 channel Transmitter (Tx) and

Receiver (Rx) system allows the Quadcopter to be remotely controlled through
a wireless signal. Quadcopter controls would typically include throttle, pitch,
roll, yaw, and mode settings. A 6-channel receiver with 2.4 GHz system is
used which perfectly bonds with the 2.4 GHz transmitter for the better
performance of Quadcopter since it would not experience signal conflicts from
other radio frequency (RF) controllers.
 Fig. 9. Receiver and 6- channel transmitter (6)

3 Modeling of Quadcopter
Modeling of Quadcopter is done in CATIA V5 software by taking into considerations
the safety requirements, smooth functioning and optimum utilization of propellers,
motors and electrical equipments. The central hub, spars and the arms are designed
individually and then assembled. Various tools available in the modules and
workbenches of CATIA are used to create the propellers and other components of
Quadcopter.

Fig. 10. 3D model of Quadcopter frame in CATIA

3.1 Analysis of Quadcopter

Two types of analysis – static structural and frequency analysis are carried out on the
frame of Quadcopter in ANSYS 13.0 software. The boundary conditions for static
structural analysis are shown in following Fig. 11. The applied load is 600N which is
equal to the load for lifting a person using a Quadcopter. By applying the load of
600N and then performing the structural analysis it has been observed that equivalent
stress is within the limits as indicated in Table 1. Model analysis is used to find the
natural frequency of the frame in different modes whose results are shown in Table 2.

Table 1. Deformation result

Minimum 0.m
Maximum 1.417e-006m
 Fig. 11. Total deformation analysis

Table 2. Natural Frequency of frame

S. No. Modes Frequency (Hz)
1. Mode 1 0
2. Mode 2 0
3. Mode 3 5.6553e-005
4. Mode 4 94.989

4 Conclusion

Quadcopter is modeled in CATIA software with all the design and safety requirements
into consideration. By applying the required amount of thrust during different
hovering position of Quadcopter, gravitational force, self-weight of electronic
components fitted to the frame, deformation and stresses induced are studied using
ANSYS 13.0. The deformation and stress results for different type of analysis are
within the required limit. So, it is concluded that design of Quadcopter is safe and can
be used for different applications of Payload category.

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