Project Report on

WIRELESS CONTROL QUADCOPTER

by

Ayush Gautam (1109732032)

Mukul Kapoor (1109732067)

Prateek Gautam (1109732076)

Submitted to the Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

Bachelor of Technology

in

Electronics and Instrumentation

Under the guidance of

Ms. Kriti

Galgotias College of Engineering and Technology

U.P.T.U

April , 2015

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE ............................................................................................................................. 5

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................ 6

ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 7

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................... 8

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 9-14

1.1 Background of the Problem ........................................................................................ 10

1.2 Objective of the project work ...................................................................................... 11

1.3 Methodology Adopted for the project ........................................................................ 12

1.4 Organization of the report ........................................................................................... 14

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................. 15-18

2.1 Literature Review For The Project ............................................................................ 15

2.2 Project scope in existing work ..................................................................................... 18

CHAPTER 3 QUADCOPTER ............................................................................................. 19-41

3.1 Block diagram of quad-copter .................................................................................... 20

3.2 Block diagram of transmitter ...................................................................................... 21

3.3 Block diagram of Receiver End .................................................................................. 22

3.4 Components of quad-copter ........................................................................................ 24

3.5 Flight control ................................................................................................................ 35

3.6 Application of quad-copter .......................................................................................... 39

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3.7 Advantages of Quad-copters ....................................................................................... 40

CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE .......................................................... 42

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF MICROCONTROLLER .............................................................. 43

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF WIRELESS CONTROLLER ...................................................... 44

APPENDIX A ACCEPTANCE OF PAPER PUBLISHED .................................................... 45

APPENDIX B BIOGRAPHY OF STUDENT .......................................................................... 47

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 53

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Flow Chart of Quad-copter design ................................................................................ 12

Figure 2. Result of 3-DOF attitude control .................................................................................. 15

Figure 3. Altitude control of Quad-copter .................................................................................... 16

Figure 4. de Bothezat helicopter ................................................................................................... 17

Figure 5. Quad-copter designs ...................................................................................................... 19

Figure 6. Block diagram of quad-copter ....................................................................................... 20

Figure 7. Block diagram of transmitter ......................................................................................... 21

Figure 8. Block diagram of receiver end ...................................................................................... 22

Figure 9. Flight control mechanism .............................................................................................. 23

Figure 10. Motor to motor distance .............................................................................................. 25

Figure 11. Brushless Motor.......................................................................................................... 26

Figure 12. Motor Used in quad-copter .......................................................................................... 27

Figure 13. Battery used in our quad-copter .................................................................................. 28

Figure 14. Electronic speed controller (ESC) ............................................................................... 29

Figure 15. Propeller ...................................................................................................................... 30

Figure 16. Radio transmitter and receiver..................................................................................... 31

Figure 17. Flight controller used in the project............................................................................. 32

Figure 18. Microcontroller used in project ................................................................................... 35

Figure 19. Flight control ............................................................................................................... 36

Figure 20. Different motions of quad-copter ................................................................................ 37

Figure 21. Applications of quad-copter ........................................................................................ 41

Figure 22. Circuit Diagram of Microcontroller ............................................................................ 43

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Project Report entitled WIRELESS CONTROL QUADCOPTER which

is submitted by AYUSH GAUTAM, MUKUL KAPOOR and PRATEEK GAUTAM in partial

fulfillment of the requirement for the award of degree B. Tech. in Department of Electronics and

Instrumentation of U.P. Technical University, is a record of the candidate own work carried out

by him under my/our supervision. The matter embodied in this thesis is original and has not been

submitted for the award of any other degree.

(Name & signature of Supervisor) (Name & signature of Project Coordinator)

(Name & signature of Project Incharge) (Name & signature of HOD)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It gives us a great sense of pleasure to present the report of the B. Tech Project undertaken during B.

Tech. Final Year. We owe special debt of gratitude to our supervisor or project guide Ms. KRITI,

Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, Galgotias College of Engineering &

Technology for her constant support and guidance throughout the course of our work. Her sincerity,

thoroughness and perseverance have been a constant source of inspiration for us. It is only her cognizant

efforts that our endeavors have seen light of the day.

Our deep sense of gratitude is accorded to Associate Professor & Head Dr. Praveen Maduri, Head, and

Department of EIE for his constant official support, encouragement and motivation for our project work.

We wish to express our sincere thanks to our Project Incharge Ms Jaspreet Kaur, Mr Hridesh Verma, Mr

Manjit Singh and Mr Gulshan Kumar Dubey for the enthusiasm they transmitted, for their competence, as

well as for the richness of their guidelines and invaluable suggestions throughout the project.

We also do not like to miss the opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of all faculty members and

lab-Instructors of the department for their kind assistance and cooperation during the development of our

project. Last but not the least, we acknowledge our friends for their contribution in the completion of the

project.

Signature with date Signature with date

[AYUSH GAUTAM, 119732032] [MUKUL KAPOOR, 119732064]

Signature with date

[PRATEEK GAUTAM, 119732076]

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ABSTRACT

This research focused on a remotely operated Quad copter system. The Quad copter is controlled

through graphical user interface (GUI). Communication between GUI and Quad copter is done

by using wireless communication system. All signals from sensors are processed by PIC

microcontroller board. Output from PIC microcontroller board used to control Quad copter

propellers. The experiment shows that Quad copter can hover with maintain its balancing and

stability. They are called rotorcrafts because unlike a fixed wing aircraft, here lift is generated by

narrow chord aero foils. They are the mixture of streams of mechanical, electronics and

especially aviation.

Keywords- Quad copter, Quad rotor, GUI, Rotorcrafts.

Quad copters is an aerial vehicle operated to fly independently and is one of the

representations of a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). They are controlled by pilots on ground

or simultaneously driven. They are called rotorcrafts because unlike a fixed wing aircraft, here

lift is generated by a set of revolving narrow-chord aero foils. Control of motion of

vehicle is achieved by altering the rotation rate of one or motor discs, thereby changing

its torque load and thrust/lift characteristics. The use of four rotors in a quad copter allow

the individual rotors to have a smaller diameter than the equivalent helicopter rotor,

which allows them to possess less kinetic energy during flight.

Quad copters have different structures and designs according to the work needed to be

Done by it. Components like motors, batteries, electronic speed controllers (ESC s) also vary

according to the power needed and work done by the quad copter.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

PWM Pulse width modulation

RC Remote Control

UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

VTOL Vertical takeoff and landing

DOF Degree of Freedom

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Quad copter, also known as quad rotor, is a helicopter with four rotors. The rotors are directed

upwards and they are placed in a square formation with equal distance from the center of mass of

the quad copter. The quad copter is controlled by adjusting the angular velocities of the rotors

which are spun by electric motors. Quad-copter is a typical design for small unmanned aerial

vehicles (UAV) because of the simple structure. Quad copters are used in surveillance, search

and rescue, construction inspections and several other applications the particular interest of the

research community in the quad-rotors design can be linked to two main advantages over

comparable vertical take o and landing (VTOL) UAVs, such as helicopters.

Early in the history of flight, quad-copter (referred to as 'quad-rotor') configurations were seen

as possible solutions to some of the persistent problems in vertical flight; torque-induced control

issues (as well as efficiency issues originating from the tail rotor, which generates no useful lift)

can be eliminated by counter-rotation and the relatively short blades are much easier to construct.

A number of manned designs appeared in the 1920s and 1930s. These vehicles were among the

first successful heavier-than-air vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicles.

The Netra is an Indian, light-weight autonomous UAV for surveillance and reconnaissance

operations. It has been jointly developed by the DEFENCE RESEARCH AND

DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION'S RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

ESTABLISHMENT (R&DE), and IDEAFORGE, a Mumbai-based private firm. The UAV was

featured in the hit movie 3 Idiots.

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1.1 Background of the Problem

The idea of quad-copters is due to many problems faced even in day-to-day routine. Some of the

problems faced are as per below:

1) Avalanche in the mountains:

While avalanches are sudden, the warning signs are always there before the snow starts sliding.

Avalanches kill more than 150 people worldwide each year. Most are snowmobilers, skiers, and

snowboarders. So quad-copters are used for keeping an eye of sudden avalanche and rescuing the

humane life.

2) Surveillance

Quad-copters have been used as unmanned aerial vehicles for reconnaissance and surveillance by

several law enforcement agencies and military. Not only that, but their ability to carry decent

payloads make them ideal choice for recreational fliers, as users can attach cameras for first

person views or aerial photography. This allows the users to fly these multi-rotors as if they are

sitting inside the craft like a pilot.

3) Aerial imagery

The most common commercial use of quad-rotors is in the field of aerial imagery. Previously,

full-sized helicopters were used for stationary aerial imagery. However, in recent times quad-

rotor drones have successfully replaced helicopters due to their huge cost savings and

autonomous nature. The process of capturing aerial imagery with a quad-rotor is highly simple.

Therefore, it is used in various commercial environments ranging from industrial systems

inspection to real estate photography.

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1.2 Objective of the project work

The control system of conventional helicopter is complex as compared to the proposed quad-

copter control system.

The objectives of this project are:

i. To design quad-copter that can control be controlled via remote control (RC)

ii. To design quad-copter for stable flight control which is controlled by PIC micro-controller

iii. To create an autonomous system that increases situational awareness of security personnel

by providing them with a birds-eye view.

iv. To make a quad rotor assembly that can hover and perform certain pre-defined maneuvers

and can lift weight up to 1 kg. These maneuvers will be controlled by an onboard

microcontroller. The microcontroller will drive the motors using Pulse Width Modulation

(PWM).

v. The project introduces an alternate and simple rotor assembly system for conventional load

carrying helicopters.

vi. Besides, in the proposed design every rotor plays a role in direction control and balance of

the quad-copter as well as lift, unlike the traditional single rotor helicopter designs in

which each rotor has a specific task - lift or directional control - but never both.

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1.3 Methodology Adopted for the project

The methodology for the project can be better understood by dividing into two phases. The first

phase is understanding the quad-copter structure and it basic mathematical modeling. The second

phase deals with design and construction of the quad-copter. It will be built by splitting the

design into different component whereby each component will be tested to ensure its working

properly. This step is to minimize the risk of accidents which will lead to increasing number of

component cost.

i. Flow chart

Designs of quad-copter are divided into two stages that is part design in first stage and full

interface at second stage. Flow chart of quad-copter design is described in Figure below:

Figure 1. Flow Chart of Quad-copter design

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ii. Quad-copter movement mechanism

Quad-copter can described as a small vehicle with four propellers attached to rotor located at the

cross frame. This aim for fixed pitch rotors are used to control the vehicle motion. The speeds of

these four rotors are independent. By independent, pitch, roll and yaw attitude of the vehicle can

be control easily.

iii. Take-off and landing motion mechanism

Take-off is movement of quad-copter that lift up from ground to hover position and landing

position is versa of take-off position. Take-off (landing) motion is control by increasing

(decreasing) speed of four rotors simultaneously which means changing the vertical motion.

iv. Hovering or static position

The hovering or static position of quad-copter is done by two pairs of rotors are rotating in

clockwise and counter-clockwise respectively with same speed. By two rotors rotating in

clockwise and counter-clockwise position, the total sum of reaction torque is zero and this

allowed quad-copter in hovering position.

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1.4 Organization of the report

The quad-copter report is organized as per below:

i. The idea behind the development of quad-copter has been described

ii. The background of the problems faced which lead to development of quad-copter has

been described

iii. The purpose and objective of the quad-copter has been defined

iv. Then, the methodology adopted for the creating the quad-copter has been described

briefly.

v. The literature for the development of quad-copter has been researched and review as per

early developments done in the same field.

vi. After research of literature and the development of the quad-copter further, scopes left

in the project are listed.

vii. Now, the design of quad-copter will be defined using block of transmitter, block

diagram of receiver and components of quad-copter

viii. Then flight control process has been described

ix. In brief the application of quad-copter has been enlisted

x. Few advantages of quad-copter has been enlisted

xi. Then conclusion and future scope of quad-copter has been conversed

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CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Literature Review For The Project

In order to run Wireless Control Quad-copter with Self Balancing System research, several

theoretical and techniques needed to be reviewed through previous related research report. The

review includes the technology development and control method that are used in Quad-copter.

Park et.al. (2001) studied on the 3-DOF attitude control free-flying vehicle. The characteristic to

be heavily coupled with inputs and outputs, and the serious nonlinearity appear in the flying

vehicle and due to this non-linear control, multi variable control or optimal control for the

attitude control of flying Quad copter. This research result is illustrated in Figure

Figure 2. Result of 3-DOF attitude control

Ashfaq Ahmad Mian et.al. (2007) developed of nonlinear model and nonlinear control strategy

for a 6-DOF Quad copter aerial robot. The nonlinear model of Quad copter aerial robot is based

on Newton-Euler formalism. Model derivation comprises determining equations of motion of the

Quad copter in three dimensions and seeking to approximate actuation forces through modelling

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of the aerodynamic coefficients and electric motor dynamics. The respective of the applied

control is described in Figure below

Figure 3. Altitude control of Quad-copter

The Netra is a lightweight UAV, constructed of carbon fiber composites, that uses quad-

copters to provide lift and control giving a VTOL capability. It has no moving parts other than

the rotors, motors and transmissions, and hence it requires very low maintenance. The use of

carbon-fiber has resulted in a light weight of 1.5 kg (3 lb.), which makes the Netra very

portable a backpack case allows operators to carry the system to field locations to serve as the

base station. It also contains the power supply, military-grade controller, hand-held operator

console and the communication systems.

Dr. George de Bothezat and Ivan Jerome developed this aircraft, with six bladed rotors at the end

of an X-shaped structure. Two small propellers with variable pitch were used for thrust and yaw

control. The vehicle used collective pitch control. Built by the US Air Service, it made its first

flight in October 1922. About 100 flights were made by the end of 1923. The highest it ever

reached was about 5 m (16 ft 5 in). Although demonstrating feasibility, it was underpowered,

unresponsive, mechanically complex and susceptible to reliability problems. Pilot workload was

too high during hover to attempt lateral motion

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Figure 4. de Bothezat helicopter

Since as early as 1920, multi-copter vehicles have been designed, built, and used to experiment

with aerial vehicle designs. The quad-rotor or quad-copter design is one example of the many

prototypes produced. This particular design uses four identical rotors mounted symmetrically;

the result is a very stable flight platform. The goal of this project is to use the stable aerial Quad-

copter design for practical uses.

Etienne Oehmichen experimented with rotorcraft designs in the 1920s. Among the six designs he

tried, his helicopter No.2 had four rotors and eight propellers, all driven by a single engine. The

Oehmichen No.2 used a steel-tube frame, with two-bladed rotors at the ends of the four arms.

The angle of these blades could be varied by warping. Five of the propellers, spinning in the

horizontal plane, stabilized the machine laterally. Another propeller was mounted at the nose for

steering. The remaining pair of propellers were for forward propulsion. The aircraft exhibited a

considerable degree of stability and controllability for its time, and made more than a thousand

test flights during the middle 1920s. By 1923 it was able to remain airborne for several minutes

at a time, and on April 14, 1924 it established the first-ever FAI distance record for helicopters of

360 m (390 yd). It demonstrated the ability to complete a circular course and and later, it

completed the first 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) closed-circuit flight by a rotorcraft.

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2.2 Project scope in existing work

The quad-copter project aims to make specific advances in three major research areas:

User-centered Human Machine Interface and Training

Automation

Socio-technological assessment.

The University of Nebraskas NIMBUS Lab has developed unmanned quad-copters that

can fly around and wirelessly transmit power to devices. Ostensibly these have the rather

unromantic purpose of recharging remote sensors weather stations, highway

monitoring/messaging systems, and other similar, unattended electronic devices but it

also means that, in the future, you might be able to call out a quad-copter to recharge your

mobile phone.

Optional components such as GPS (Global Positioning System) modules, cameras,

ultrasonic sensors, barometers (barometric pressure sensors) etc. can be considered. They

enhance the performance of the quad-copter, and add value to its uses. GPS modules

communicate to satellites and retrieve accurate relevant information. This information can

be used to calculate speed and path. It is very useful for autonomous quad-copters that

need to know its exact position and which direction to fly.

An ultrasonic sensor measures the distance to the ground or the altitude. It is of great use if

the quad-copter has to maintain a certain distance from the ground without adjusting the

height. Most of these sensors have a range of between 20cm to 7m.It needs to be mounted

at the bottom of the quad-copter. The barometer measures humidity and pressure and

works best at high altitudes. The best altitude combination will be to use both an

Ultrasonic sensor and a Barometric pressure sensor at the same time.

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CHAPTER 3

QUADCOPTER

Figure 5. Quad-copter designs

A quad-copter, also called a quad-rotor helicopter or quad-rotor is a multi-rotor helicopter that is

lifted and propelled by four rotors. Quad-copters are classified as rotorcraft, as opposed to fixed-

wing aircraft, because their lift is generated by a set of rotors (vertically oriented propellers).

Unlike most helicopters, quad-copters use two sets of identical fixed pitched propellers; two

clockwise (CW) and two counter-clockwise (CCW). These use variation of RPM to control lift

and torque. Control of vehicle motion is achieved by altering the rotation rate of one or more

rotor discs, thereby changing its torque load and thrust/lift characteristics.

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3.1 Block diagram of quad-copter

Figure 6. Block diagram of quad-copter

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3.2 Block diagram of transmitter

Figure 7. Block diagram of transmitter

keypad RF encoder

433 MHz RF transmitter

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3.3 Block diagram of Receiver End

Figure 8. Block diagram of receiver end

433 MH

RF DECODER

Motor3

Motor4

PIC

MOTOR DRIVER

Motor 2 Motor 1

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Figure 9. Flight control mechanism

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3.4 Components of quad-copter

The main components used for construction of a quad-copter are the frame, propellers (either

fixed-pitch or variable-pitch), and the electric motors. For best performance and simplest control

algorithms, the motors and propellers should be placed equidistant. Recently, carbon fiber

composites have become popular due to their light weight and structural stiffness. The electrical

components needed to construct a working quad-copter are similar to those needed for a modern

RC helicopter, which include the electronic speed control module, on-board computer or

controller board, and battery.

The components are elaborately described as follows:

i. Frame:

It is the structure that holds or houses all the components together. They are designed to be

strong and lightweight. To decide the appropriate frame for the copter 3 factors, i.e. weight, size

and materials used are considered. The frame should be rigid and able to minimize the

vibrations from the motors. It consists of 2-3 parts which are not necessarily of the same

material:

The center plate where the electronics are mounted

four arms mounted to the center plate

four motor brackets connecting the motors to the end of the arms

Strong, light and sensible configuration including a built-in power distribution board (PDB) that

allows for a clean and easy build is highly recommended. Parts and accessories that are 100%

compatible and interchangeable are always preferred.

Frames are usually made of:

Carbon Fiber

Carbon fiber is the most rigid and vibration absorbent but it is the most expensive too.

Aluminum

Hollow aluminum square rails are the most popular for the arms due to its light weight,

rigidness and affordability. However aluminum can suffer from motor vibrations, as the

damping effect is not as good as carbon fiber. In cases of severe vibration problem, it could

mess up sensor readings.

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Wood/ Plywood /MDF (Medium-density fiberboard)

Wood boards like MDF plates could be used for the arms as they are better at absorbing the

vibrations than aluminum. Unfortunately the wood is not a very rigid material and can

break easily if the quad-copter crashes.

For the center plate, plywood is most commonly used because of its light weight, easy to work

factor and good vibration absorbing features. As for arm length, motor-to-motor distance is

sometimes used, meaning the distance between the centers of one motor to that of another motor

of the same arm. The motor to motor distance usually depends on the diameter of the propellers

in order to have enough space between the propellers.

Figure 10. Motor to motor distance

ii. Rotors or Motors :

The purpose of motors is to spin the propellers. Brushless DC motors provide the necessary

thrust to propel the craft. Each rotor needs to be controlled separately by a speed controller.

They are a bit similar to normal DC motors in the way that coils and magnets are used to drive

the shaft. Though the brushless motors do not have a brush on the shaft which takes care of

switching the power direction in the coils, and thats why they are called brushless. Instead the

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brushless motors have three coils on the inner (center) of the motor, which is fixed to the

mounting.

Figure 11. Brushless Motor

On the outer side, it contains a number of magnets mounted to a cylinder that is attached to the

rotating shaft. So the coils are fixed which means wires can go directly to them and therefore

there is no need for a brush. Brushless motors spin in much higher speed and use less power at

the same speed than DC motors. Also they dont lose power in the brush-transition like the DC

motors do, so its more energy efficient. The KV (kilovolts)-rating in a motor indicates how

many RPMs (Revolutions per minute) the motor will do if provided with x-number of volts. The

higher the kV rating is, faster the motor spins at a constant voltage. Usually out runners are used

brushless motors used for model planes and copters.

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Figure 12. Motor Used in quad-copter

Generally brushless motors spin in much higher speed and use less power at the same speed than

DC motors. Also brushless motors dont lose power in the brush-transition like the DC motors

do, so its more energy efficient.

Brushless motors come in many different varieties, where the size and the current consumption

differ. When selecting your brushless motor you should take care of the weight, the size, which

kind of propeller you are going to use, so everything matches up with the current

consumption. When looking for the brushless motors you should notice the specifications,

especially the Kv-rating.

The Kv-rating indicates how many RPMs (Revolutions per minute) the motor will do if provided

with x-number of volts. The RPMs can be calculated in this way: RPM= Kv*U An easy way to

calculate rating of motor you need.

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iii. Battery or power source

LiPo (Lithium Polymer) batteries are used because it is light. NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) is

also possible. They are cheaper, butt heavier than LiPo. LiPo batteries also have a C rating and a

power rating in mAh (which stands for milliamps per hour). The C rating describes the rate at

which power can be drawn from the battery, and the power rating describes how much power the

battery can supply. Larger batteries weigh more so there is always a tradeoff between flight

duration and total weight.

Figure 13. Battery used in our quad-copter

A good rule of thumb is that you with four EPP1045 propellers and four Kv=1000 rated motor

will get the number of minutes of full throttle flight time as the same number of amp-hours in

your battery capacity. This means that if you have a 4000mAh battery, you will get around 4

minutes of full throttle flight time though with a 1KG total weight you will get around 16

minutes of hover.

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iv. Electronic Speed controller (ESC)

The electronic speed controller controls the speed of the motor or tells the motors how fast to

spin at a given time. For a quad-copter, ESCs are needed, one connected to each motor. The

ESCs are then connected directly to the battery through either a wiring harness or power

distribution board. Many ESCs come with a built in battery eliminator circuit (BEC), which

allows to power things like the flight control board and radio receiver without connecting them

directly to the battery. Because the motors on a quad-copter must all spin at precise speeds to

achieve accurate flight, the ESC is very important. This firmware in a ESC changes the refresh

rate of the ESC so the motors get many more instructions per second from the ESC, thus have

greater control over the quad-copters behavior. The frequency of the signals also vary a lot, but

for a quad-copter it is preferred if the controller supports high enough frequency signal, so the

motor speed can be adjusted quick enough for optimal stability.

Figure 14. Electronic speed controller (ESC)

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v. Propellers

A quad-copter has four propellers, two normal propellers that spin counterclockwise, and two

pusher propellers that spin clockwise to avoid body spinning. By making the propeller pairs

spin in each direction, but also having opposite tilting, all of them will provide lifting thrust

without spinning in the same direction. This makes it possible for the copter to stabilize the yaw

rotation, which is the rotation around itself. The propellers come in different diameters and

pitches (tilting effect). The larger diameter and pitch is, the more thrust the propeller can

generate. It also requires more power to drive it, but it will be able to lift more weight. When

using high RPM (Revolutions per minute) motors, the smaller or mid-sized propellers. When

using low RPM motors the larger propellers can be used as there could be trouble with the small

ones not being able to lift the quad-copter at low speed.

Figure 15. Propeller

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vi. Radio Transmitter and Receiver :

The radio transmitter and receiver allows to control the quad-copter. Four channels for a basic

quad-copter is required .Using a radio with 8 channels, so there is more flexibility is

recommended. Quad-copters can be programmed and controlled in many different ways but the

most common ones are by RC transmitter in either Rate (acrobatic) or Stable mode. The

difference is the way the controller board interprets the orientations feedback together with the

RC transmitter joysticks. This is useful when the quad-copter is required to do stunts like tilting

it a bit to the right. The speed of the 4 motors will be adjusted automatically and constantly to

keep the quad-copter balanced.

Figure 16. Radio transmitter and receiver

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vii. Flight controller

The flight control board is regarded as the brain of the quad-copter. Flight control boards

range from simple to highly complex. An affordable, easy to set up, having a strong

functionality controller is always recommended. Such controllers can handle about any type of

multi-rotor aircraft so if even we want to upgrade to a hex copter or experiment with a tricopter,

we need not purchase another board.

Figure 17. Flight controller used in the project

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viii. Microcontroller

PIC16F877 belongs to a class of 8-bit microcontrollers of RISC architecture. It has 8kb flash

memory for storing a written program. Since memory made in FLASH technology can be

programmed and cleared more than once, it makes this microcontroller suitable for device

development. IT has data memory that needs to be saved when there is no supply. It is usually

used for storing important data that must not be lost if power supply suddenly stops. For

instance, one such data is an assigned temperature in temperature regulators. If during a loss of

power supply this data was lost, we would have to make the adjustment once again upon return

of supply.

RISC architecture

Only 35 instructions to learn

All single-cycle instructions except branches

Operating frequency 0-20 MHz

Precision internal oscillator

o Factory calibrated

o Software selectable frequency range of 8MHz to 31KHz

Power supply voltage 2.0-5.5V

o Consumption: 220uA (2.0V, 4MHz), 11uA (2.0 V, 32 KHz) 50nA (stand-by

mode)

Power-Saving Sleep Mode

Brown-out Reset (BOR) with software control option

35 input/output pins

o High current source/sink for direct LED drive

o software and individually programmable pull-up resistor

o Interrupt-on-Change pin

8K ROM memory in FLASH technology

o Chip can be reprogrammed up to 100.000 times

In-Circuit Serial Programming Option

o Chip can be programmed even embedded in the target device

256 bytes EEPROM memory

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o Data can be written more than 1.000.000 times

368 bytes RAM memory

A/D converter:

o 14-channels

o 10-bit resolution

3 independent timers/counters

Watch-dog timer

Analogue comparator module with

o Two analogue comparators

o Fixed voltage reference (0.6V)

o Programmable on-chip voltage reference

PWM output steering control

Eight level deep hardware stack

Power-on Reset (POR)

Power-up Timer (PWRT) and

Oscillator Start-up Timer (OST)

Programmable code protection

Watchdog Timer (WDT) with its own on-chip RC oscillator for reliable operation

Direct, indirect and relative addressing modes

Interrupt capability (up to 14 sources)

Enhanced USART module

o Supports RS-485, RS-232 and LIN2.0

o Auto-Baud Detect

Master Synchronous Serial Port (MSSP)

o supports SPI and I2C mode

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Figure 18. Microcontroller used in project

3.5 Flight control

The flight control in quad-copters work is based on the principle that each rotor produces

thrust and torque about its center of rotation, as well as a drag opposite to the vehicle's

direction of flight. If all rotors spin at the same angular velocity, with rotors marked 1 and 3

rotating clockwise and rotors marked 2 and 4 counterclockwise, the net aerodynamic torque, and

subsequently the angular acceleration about the yaw axis, is exactly zero, which implies that the

yaw stabilizing rotor of conventional helicopters is not needed. Yaw is induced by mismatching

the balance in aerodynamic torques (i.e., by offsetting the cumulative thrust commands between

the counter-rotating blade pairs).

The 4 rotors aligned take the shape of a square, two on opposite sides of the square rotate in

clockwise direction and the other two rotate in the opposite direction. If all rotors turn in the

same direction, the craft would spin just like the regular helicopter without the tail rotor. Yaw is

induced by unbalanced aerodynamic torques. The aerodynamic torque of the first rotors pair

cancelled out with the torque created by the second pair which rotates in the opposite direction.

Hence if all four rotors apply equal thrust the quad-copter will stay in the same direction.

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Figure 19. Flight control

For balance, the quad-copter should continuously take the required measurements from the

sensors, and make alterations to the speed of each rotor to maintain the body level. These

adjustments usually are done automatically by a sophisticated control system on the quad copter

in order to stay perfectly balanced. A quad copter has four controllable degrees of freedom,

namely: Yaw, Roll, Pitch, and Altitude.

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Figure 20. Different motions of quad-copter

For hovering a balance of forces is needed. If we want the quad-copter to hover, SUM(Fi) must

be equal mg. To move the quad-copter climb/decline the speed of every motor is

increased/decreased.

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Figure 20: Hovering motion

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3.6 Application of quad-copter

Quad-copters have variety of applications in the field of research, military and many more.

Quad-copter designs have become a cynosure as to most research fields as they are an important

concept of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). They use an electronic control system and electronic

sensors to stabilize the aircraft. Their small size and agile maneuverability prove a great strength

to these quad-copters and they can be flown indoors as well as outdoors.

Some of their applications include:

1) 3-D Mapping

Small and lightweight drones help in surveying large landscapes with thousands of digital

images that can be stitched together into a string of 3-D maps. Though military and

other government satellites produce similar maps, but the stupendous outcomes of UAV

technology outshines them repeatedly.

2) Search and Rescue

Drones are a widespread application to rescue patients during injury or any calamity, manmade

or natural. Drones have the ability to help assist, locate and save victims, faster with more

efficiency than any other option. There are campaign missions to provide a string

product line of Search and Rescue (SAR) drones. Advanced technology is used to create

drones that can reach people in small spaces and supply food, water and medicine to

trapped victims. Many advances like water-resistance, high definition GPS tracker and

cameras in quad-copters prove a great benefactor especially in the search and rescue aim.

3) Farming

In agriculture technology helps in great precision to monitor fields, increase yields and also save

money. Moreover, drones also help precise applications of pesticides, water, or fertilizers by

identifying exactly where such resources are needed and delivering them there too. Cameras

in drones are able to spot nitrogen levels (low or high) or watch the growth of a particular

section. Infrared light cameras inform about plant health by measuring the efficiency of

photosynthesis in various plants. These infrared cameras also detect which land is suitable for

appropriate growth of which plant.

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3.7 Advantages of Quad-copters

The main merit of quad-copters and similar unmanned aerial vehicles is their small size, due to

which they could traverse in narrow conditions.

The use of drones has tremendously grown in a short span of time owing to the long

flying time in contrast to the manned aircrafts. Without a human pilot, drones can operate for

significantly longer without fatigue than airplanes. Moreover, drone operators can easily hand

off controls of a drone without any operational downtime. They are remote controlled, so

no danger will be there to the crew. They contain a whole lot of widespread applications, in

day to day lives, domestic purposes and national to international purposes.

Some more of their advantages include:

i. Does not require mechanical linkages to change the pitch angle at the blade as it spins.

ii. Four small rotors have smaller diameter than one large helicopter rotor.

iii. Takes less damage to rotors.

iv. No need for a tail rotor which generates no lift.

v. Easier to build four small blades compared to large one.

vi. Due to ease in construction and control, they are used in amateur model aircrafts

project.

vii. They can traverse through difficult terrains because of their small size and there is less

risk of damage too.

viii. They can save lives. They greatly reduce putting military manpower in combat (in

harm).

ix. They are significantly cheaper and the cost in fuel and maintenance is way lower than

regular airplanes.

x. Quad-copters are smaller and are able to fly lower than traditional airplanes and the risk

level to military hardware is comparatively low.

xi. Drones increase surveillance, reconnaissance, and general military intelligence.

xii. Drones contain more pinpoint precision and accuracy from larger distances, which in

turn reduce the collateral damage to civilians and infrastructure.

xiii. Drones are easier and faster to deploy than most alternative

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Figure 21. Applications of quad-copter

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CHAPTER 4

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE

Drones will soon take on be an imperative existence in the coming future. They will be

seen taking up larger roles for a variety of jobs including business in the immediate future They

could become a part of our daily lives, from smallest details like delivering groceries to

changing the way farmers manage their crops to revolutionizing private security, or

maybe even aerial advertising. Today, quad copters are capturing news video, recording

vacation travel logs, filming movies, providing disaster relief, surveying real estate and

delivering packages.

They are categorized according to their corresponding uses. Some are for military purposes

provided with missiles and bombs, some for surveillance and reconnaissance purposes.

Agriculture is predicted to be the dominant market for UAV operations. In Japan drones

are flown for the past 20 years. Lot of the farmlands over there are on steep hillsides, and those

vehicles can treat an acre in five minutes which is very difficult or even impossible to do

so with a tractor.

The innumerable advantages of drones lead to their growth in a short span of time.

They have a few demerits but those can be rectified. Today most drones are controlled by

either software or other computer programs. The components of a drone also vary based on

what type of work needs to be done and how much payload needs to be carried.

Out runners, batteries, electronic speed controllers all come in different ranges according

to the type of work needed to be done by the Quad copters are a great provisional craft that

could get in between airplanes and helicopters and are hence easier to fly all the time.

Beside real-time 3Dflight, such as inverted flight, quad copters give a more acrobatic feel to

its flyers. Quad copters offers to be a great balance between cost , capability, and

performance. The only problem is when funds are coupled with highly ambitious projects. A

solution for this could be to gradually improvise on inventing quad copters with new

enhancements and new designs. Hence quad copters have an exemplarily bright future.

The onus lies upon us whether we productively use it or destructively use it.

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CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF MICROCONTROLLER

Figure 22. Circuit Diagram of Microcontroller

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CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF WIRELESS CONTROLLER

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APPENDIX A

ACCEPTANCE OF PAPER PUBLISHED

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APPENDIX B

BIOGRAPHY OF STUDENT

I am student of Galgoatia College of engineering and technology, pursuing Bachelor of

technology in Electronics and Instrumentation for the session 2011-2015. My interests include

reading and exploring new technologies. I am avid follower of new emergencies in the

technology. I started working on quad-copter project due my inquisitiveness for this subject area.

There are many areas wherein human interference can be reduced and proper utilization of

technology can be performed. Also there are many terrains wherein human interference is just

not possible. For such reasons, a quad copter can be of great help. Along with this I prefer

travelling and knowing new places and people.

AYUSH GAUTAM

Roll No 1109732032

Session 2011-15

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RESEARCH PAPER

WIRELESS CONTROL QUADCOPTER SELF-BALANCING SYSTEM

Ms.Kriti1, Ayush Gautam2, Prateek Gautam3, Mukul Kapoor4 1Assistant Professor

2Student

Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering

Galgotias College of Engineering and Technology, Gr .Noida 1tripathikriti@gmail.com

2erayush.gautam09@gmail.com 3muks27kapoor@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: This research focused on a remotely operated Quad copter system.

The Quad copter is controlled through

graphical user interface (GUI).

Communication between GUI and Quad

copter is done by using wireless

communication system. All signals from

sensors are processed by PIC

microcontroller board. Output from PIC

microcontroller board used to control

Quad copter propellers.

The experiment shows that Quad copter

can hover with maintain its balancing and

stability. They are called rotorcrafts

because unlike a fixed wing aircraft, here

lift is generated by narrow chord aero

foils. They are the mixture of streams of

mechanical, electronics and especially

aviation .

Keywords- Quadcopter, QuadRotor,GUI,

Rotorcrafts.

I. INTRODUCTION

Quad copter, also known as quad rotor, is a

helicopter with four rotors. The rotors are

directed upwards and they are placed in a

square formation with equal distance from

the center of mass of the quad copter. The

quad copter is controlled by adjusting the

angular velocities of the rotors which are

spun by electric motors. Quadcopter is a

typical design for small unmanned aerial

vehicles (UAV) because of the simple

structure. quad copters are used in

surveillance, search and rescue, construction

inspections and several other applications.

Quadcopter has received considerable

attention from researchers as the complex

Phenomena of the quad copter has generated

several areas of interest. The basic

dynamical model of the quad copter is the

starting point for all of the studies but more

complex aerodynamic properties has been

introduced as well. Different control

methods has been researched, including PID

controllers . Control methods require

accurate information from the position and

attitude measurements performed with a

gyroscope , an accelerometer, and other

measuring devices, such as GPS, and sonar

and laser sensors . The purpose of this paper

is to present the basics of quad copter

modeling and control as to form a basis for

further research and development in the

area. This is pursued with two aims. The

first aim is to study the mathematical model

of the quad copter dynamics. The second

aim is to develop proper methods for

stabilization and trajectory control of the

quad copter. The challenge in controlling a

quad copter is that the quad copter has six

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degrees of freedom but there are only four

control inputs.

II. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

The quad rotor helicopter used in this

project is a Draganyer X-Pro (X-Pro). It

differs from traditional helicopters regarding

the design as it has 4 horizontal rotors and

no vertical rotors. Traditional helicopters

can adjust the angle of the rotor blades as

well in order to control the helicopter, but on

the X-Pro the blades have a static angle. The

only variable that can be adjusted in right is

the rotational speed of the rotors.

The reason for this is to aid the development

of a model and controllers for the X-Pro,

without the risk of flying into the wall. This

will of course give reduce the movements of

the X-Pro.

Fig.1 Whole structure of rotations in quadcopter

The Design

The X-Pro consists of a base in the center

and 4 arms equally spaced in a shape of a

cross. The motors are mounted on the end of

the arms and connected to the rotors using 1

to 10 gearing. The base of the X-Pro is the

joint between the 4 arms and contains a

battery and the remote control (R/C)

electronics. The basic structure of the X-Pro

can be seen in figure. The X-pro has two

motors working in the same direction in ths

case 4 and 2 rotating anticlockwise whereas,

the other two motors 1 and 3 rotated in

opposite direction to the other motors that is

4 and 2 making the X-pro rotates stable and

vigorous!

III.TECHNIQUE USED

A Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Signal is

a method for generating an analog signal

using a digital source. A PWM signal

consists of two main components that define

its behavior: a duty cycle and a frequency.

The duty cycle describes the amount of time

the signal is in a high (on) state as a

percentage of the total time of it takes to

complete one cycle. The frequency

determines how fast the PWM completes a

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cycle (i.e. 1000 Hz would be 1000 cycles

per second), and therefore how fast it

switches between high and low states.

Technique used in the movement of the

quad copter is PWM(Pulse Width

Modulation ) . pulse-duration

modulation (PWM), it is a technique used

to encode a message into a pulsing signal. It

is a type of modulation. Although this

modulation technique can be used to encode

information for transmission, its main use is

to allow the control of the power supplied to

electrical devices, especially to inertial loads

such as motors. In addition, PWM is one of

the two principal algorithms used

in photovoltaic solar battery chargers, The

PWM switching frequency has to be much

higher than what would affect the load (the

device that uses the power), which is to say

that the resultant waveform perceived by the

load must be as smooth as possible .The

major advantage of using PWM in the

quadcopter is that power loss in the

switching devices is very low. When a

switch is off there is practically no current,

and when it is on and power is being

transferred to the load, there is almost no

voltage drop across the switch. Power loss,

being the product of voltage and current, is

thus in both cases close to zero. PWM also

works well with digital controls, which,

because of their on/off nature, can easily set

the needed duty cycle. PWM can be used to

control the amount of power delivered to a

load without incurring the losses that would

result from linear power delivery by

resistive means.

IV .CONCLUSION

While the initial goal of creating an

autonomous quadcopter capable of sensing

obstacles was not reached in ten weeks, our

group still learned a substantial amount

about robot design, fabrication, control, and

arduino programming. We used the spring

test rig to determine the motor and propeller

thrust for various PWM signals. We used

this information for quadcopter frame down

selection and control. We learned important

soldering and electric system fabrication

skills including making a power harness and

digital to analog motor control. Our group

all became proficient arduino programmers

by necessity as it was the most complex part

and required a group effort. In these ten

weeks we succeeded in stabilizing the

quadcopter in two degrees of freedom. The

end of the project is bittersweet. We are

proud of our accomplishments, but wish that

there were more time to improve the

quadcopter. With another ten weeks we

would further fine tune the stability and add

code to handle yaw and translation in the

XYZ-axes

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CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF MICROCONTROLLER USED

IN THE QUAD COPTER

The circuit shows how the PIC microcontroller is used to control the electronic speed

controllers(ESCs) which control the speed of the motor which in turn controls speed of the

propellers of the quad copter.

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CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF THE WIRELESS

CONTROLLER

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REFERENCES

References & websites were used as a medium to obtain information for this project:

1. http://blog.oscarliang.net/types-of-multicopter/ - Posted on Oct. 25 2013.

2. http://blog.oscarliang.net/build-a-quadcopter-beginners-tutorial-1/- Posted on June 25

2013.

3. http://blog.tkjelectronics.dk/2012/03/quadcopters-how-to-get started/#battery Posted on

March 27 2012.

4. http://www.fox42kptm.com/story/27451289/imagination-tv-partners-withdrones-to-the-

rescue-to-provide-emergency-situation-relief - Posted on November 21 2014.

5. www.slideshare.net

6. http://www.philforhumanity.com/Drones.html

7. www.farmingdrones.com

8. www.abcnews.com

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