Al-Salam University College

Computer Techniques Engineering Department

DESIGN QUADCOPTER CONTROL

USING ARDUPILOT
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor
of Science in Computer Techniques Engineering

Students Name

‫رأفت محمود سليمان‬

‫شامل متعب محمد‬
‫سامي عودة حمادي‬
‫عزيز ياس خضير‬
‫عبدالستار جبير احمد‬
‫رامي تركي رافع‬

Supervisor Name

Ali Refaat

2020-2019
 Supervisor Certification

I certify that this project entitled “Design Quadcopter Control Using Ardupilot”
is prepared under my supervision at Al-Salam University College in partial
fulfillment for the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Science in
ComputerTechniquesEngineering.

Signature:
Name:
(Supervisor)
Date:

In view of the available recommendation, I forward this project for debate by the
examination committee.

Signature:
Name: Assist. Prof. Dr Abd Al-amer Kalaf
(Head of Department)
Data:

2
 Certification of Examination Committee
We chairman and members of the examination committee certify that we read the
project entitled “Design Quadcopter Control Using Ardupilot”, and have
examined the students “name all” in its contents and in what is concerned with it,
and in our opinion it meets the standards of a project for the degree of Bachelor of
Science in ComputerEngineering.

Signature: Signature:
Name: Name:
(Member) (Member)
Date: Date:

Signature:
Name:
(Chairman)
Date:

Signature:
Name: Assist. Prof. Dr. Abd Al-amer Kalaf
(Head of Department)
Date:

3
 Thanks and Appreciation

We would like to our appreciation and gratitude to our

supervisor, who
is her advices wery hrlpful in completing the project.

4
content
subject page
Thanks and Appreciation 4
Content 5
abstract 6
Chapter one :Introduction 7
Introduction to quad copter 7
Definition of quadcopter 7
Advantage of quadcopter 8
Quadcopter history 8
Structure of the project 9
Chapter two: Applications and Flight Dynamics of Quadcopter 10
Applications of Quadcopter: 10
The Flight Dynamics 11
Quadcopter Configuration 14
Ardupilot APM 15
Chapter Three:Quadcopter Design and configuration 16
Blockdiagram of the system designed 16
The Hardware of Quadcopter. 18
Essential Pieces Of Hardware 19
Chapter four: Conclusion and future work 31
Conclusion 31
Suggestions for future work 31
References 32

Abstract

5
Quadcopter, also known as quadrotor, 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 Quadcopter. The Quadcopter
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. They
are widely used for variety of applications due to its small size and high
stability. In this paper design and development of remote controlled
quadcopter using controller implemented with Ardupilot Mega board is
presented. to determine the system orientation and speed control of four
BLDC motors to enable the quadcopter fly in all directions. Pitch, roll and
yaw responses of quadcopter is obtained and PID controller is used to
stabilize the system response. Finally the prototype of quadcopter is build
PID logic is embedded on it. The working and performance of quadcopter
is tested and desired outputs were obtained.

Chapter one

6
 Introduction to Quadcopter
1. Introduction to Quadcopter.

Quadcopters are compact rotor craft air vehicles that can be applied to indoor and
outdoor inspection and exploration tasks. Like a conventional helicopter they can
hover, however, they have other significant advantages such as mechanical
simplicity, vertical takeoff and hover capabilities, and dynamic maneuverability the
Quadcopter is an under actuated force-controlled vehicle with 6 degrees of freedom.
Force actuation implies that rotational and translational motion can be approximated
as a double integrator system from command to attitude angle or horizontal position.
The key to stable control of such systems is to provide artificial damping through
feedback of rotational and translational velocity. [1]

2. definition of Quadcopter.

Quadcopter, also known as quadrotor, 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 Quadcopter. The Quadcopter 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. inspections and several other applications. [2]

Fig 1: isometric view of a quadcopter in an unfolded configure of use

7
3. advantage of quadcopter

Quadcopter is being flexible and upgradable for many applications with the same
components and interface. Due to the smaller rotors the quad rotors have less kinetic
energy. This makes the quad rotors safer and less prone to causing a lot of damage
when colliding with other objects. [4]

Quadcopter has several advantages:

• Quite simplified design.

• The ability to hover.

• Vertical takeoff and landing (VTAL) capabilities.

• Maneuverability.

• Ability to fly both indoors and outdoors.

4. Quadcopter history

Quadcopter is not a new concept in nowadays. Etienne Oehmichen was the first
scientist who experimented with rotorcraft deign in 1920. Among the six designs he
underwent, his second prototype with four rotors and eight propellers are mounted on
a single engine. Oehmichen used a cross shaped frame with two rotors on top of four
arms. Due to the change in angle of the blades, so that the propellers spinning in the
horizontal plane can achieve lift and stability, for two of the propellers used for
forward propulsion and others for steer. The quadcopter was able to make a few
minutes’ flight and a close circuit control.

Fig 2: Oehmichen No.2 Quadcopter

8
But the development of quadcopter was once abandoned in favor of research for what
have become out traditional helicopter. Only in 1956 would the concept be refreshed
with the “Convert wings Model A”, as shown in Figure 2 inspired by both
Oehmichen and Bothezat, a four rotor aircraft was built. With proper power and
simplified mechanism, this vehicle flew successfully

5. Structure of the project

• The aim of this project is to build a quadcopter that is capable stable flight.

• Quadcopter is customized to provide several jobs by making hardware and software

changes to the system.

9
 Chapter two

Applications and Flight Dynamics of Quadcopter

Introduction:
The first part of this chapter will focuses the importance of quadcopter
Applications and their role in real life. The second part of the chapter will
describe flight dynamics of quadcopter in details and how the quadcopter
fly. Then we define the Ardupilot chip.
Applications of Quadcopter:
Quadcopters are highly maneuverable. They could be useful in all kinds of situations
and environments. Quad copters capable of autonomous flight could help remove the
need for people to put themselves in lots of dangerous positions. This is a prime
reason that research interest has been increasing over the years. It’s due to these
reasons that quad-copters have grown widely popular amongst amateurs and
professionals alike for a wide array of applications ranging from research to security
purpose alongside commercial applications [4].

1. Rescue missions:

Quadcopter can be used to deliver aid to people in distress in areas that could
be difficult to reach or too dangerous for human operators. According to
WHO there’s an estimated 359,000 people that die by drowning every year,
making it responsible for approximately 10% of total global mortality. Quads
can be placed on boats or beaches and used to drop inflated life buoys to
someone that could potentially drown as shown in

2. Security purpose:

The Security use of UAVs has grown because of their ability to keep human
operators at a safe distance. The military applications include surveillance,
search, rescue, remote inspection or any application that would be dangerous if
done with operators within close rang

10
3. Commercial and industrial applications:

In commercial and industrial fields quads have many applications such as:
1. Pipeline and dangerous area inspection such as nuclear reactor site
meltdowns.
2. Crop assessment

3. Monitoring hard to reach or dangerous locations and exploration of a

collapsed building or a dangerous location.
4. UAE has a project employing quad-copters as delivery drones to deliver
government issued IDs and other vital documents to your door step after
you order it online.
4.The Flight Dynamics:
When considering the motion control of an aerial vehicle the three main
parameters involved are the angles of rotation about the vehicle’s center of
mass. These are known as the following:
1. Altitude.
2. Pitch.
3. Roll.
4. Yaw.

These are referred to the rotation about their respective axes, Altering these
parameters either individually or together enables the motion of the vehicle to be
altered as needed [5] .In a quadrotor the only moving parts are the four rotors and
are considered in two pairs. Motors 1 and 2 form one pair that rotates
counterclockwise while Motors 3 and 4 form the second pair that rotates
clockwise. All motions are obtained by varying the speed of each rotor
individually or in pairs.

11
1.Altitude:
In order for the quadrotor to hold a constant altitude, the trust generated by
the rotors needs to equal the downward force due to the mass of the
vehicle. Uniformly increasing the speed of all four rotors will increase the
thrust generate resulting in a net upward force thus causing an increase in
altitude. Similarly decreasing the rotor speed will result in a reduced
altitude, as shown in Figure (3).

Fig (3): An increase or decrease in rotor speed causes a change altitude

Pitch:
By decreasing the speed of the Rotor 1 and 3 and increasing the speed of
the Rotor 2and 4,the pitch of the vehicle is decreased. This results in a
forward motion of the quadrotor. To move the quadrotor in the opposite
direction the speed of the Rotor 1 and 3 is increased while the speed of
Rotor 2 and 4 is decreased. This results in a backward motion of the
quadrotor. The two states are shown in Figure 4)

Fig (4) :Pitch causing movement in forward and backward directi

12
 Roll:
A change in roll is obtained by obtained by similarly altering the
speeds of two rotors on the right these result in motion in right
directions.To move quadcopter to the left, the two rotors on the left
decrease their speed.These two states are shown in Figure (5).

Figure (5): Roll causing movement in the Left and Right directions
Yaw:
To prevent the quadrotor from rotating about its vertical axes, the torque produced
by the rotors needs to be balanced. Therefore, Rotors 1 and 2 need to rotate in the
opposite direction as that of the Rotors 3 and 4. When all four rotors are rotating at
the same speed they generate an equal and opposite torque, which result in a net
torque of zero and a constant yaw angle. When the speed of one pair of rotors is
increased relative to the other pair, the total torque will no longer be zero, which
result in rotation or yaw. The rotation of the quadrotor is opposite to that of the faster
rotating rotor pair, as shown in Figure (6).

Figure (6): An increase in rotational speed of one pair of rotors will result in
yaw.

13
Quadcopter Configuration [4]:
Multi-rotors are so inherently unstable that no human can fly them, so they
need to be controlled through electronic stabilization that controls the speed of
their rotors in order to control the motion of the quad or multi-rotor craft.
Stability of quad-copters is achieved with the arrangement of the rotors, as
two of them will be rotating CW (Clock-wise) and the other two CCW
(Counter-clock-wise) to stabilize the quad-copter. Quad-copter rotors are
arranged in either “X” or “+” configuration, each requiring a slightly different
way of control, as illustrated in the figure (7)

Figure (7):Different Quadcopter configurations

14
5.Ardupilot APM 2.6 :

The APM 2.6 is an open source autopilot system based on an Arduino

platform, shown in Figure (8).This autopilot can be used in fixed-wing
and rotary-wing vehicles such as helicopters and multi-rotors. The
Ardupilot board consists of the main processor and the Inertial
Measurement Unit. It has 4 serial ports, ports for GPS, wireless
telemetry, power module and external compass connection, and an USB
port. This autopilot is capable of autonomous take-off and landing,
waypoint navigation, two way telemetry and has a built-in hardware
failsafe that allows the aircraft to return to the launch base when the
radio signal is lost.

The APM 2.6 can be used with an open source ground station
application such as the Mission Planner. This software allows the
user to calibrate and configure the autopilot, plan and save
missions and view live flight data.

Figure (8):Ardupilot.

15
 Chapter Three

Quadcopter Design and configuration

1.Intrduction:

The first part of this chapter describes the block diagram of

Cuadcopter system designed and deals with describing the hardware

Components which are used to design the desired a quadcopter, this

Chapter explains the steps for assembling a quadcopter and

calibrating with configuring the quadcoter using mission planner.

2. Blockdiagram of the system designed:

The block diagram for quadcopter system is shown in figure below:

Figure(9):block diagram of quadcopter system

16
 The system is composed of an APM 2.6 board that used as the
controller for the quad ,it senses data from the on board gyros,
altimeter ,accelerometer, etc. it provides the calculations necessary to
change the outputs going into the ESCs, effectively controlling the
speed of the motors to keep the quad stabilized.

The system is bowered by a3-cell Li-Po battery which is connected to a

power distribution board that is used to feed power to the ESCs and also
route 5V of power to the APM power module with a 6 position cable.
The 5V routed to APM are sufficient to run it along with all the on board
sensors as well as the external GPS/compass module.

Each ESC is connected to one of the motors through 3 bullet

connectors ,they act as a 3 phase power source for the motors and
control the speed ,direction of rotation and also can act as a dynamic
brake for the motors.

The input of those ESCs are connected to the output pins on the
APM 2.6 to pins 1, 2, 3 and 4, the purpose is to control the speed of
each motor , so we can effectively perform all 4 possible quad
movements which are roll , yaw , pitch and accelerate along the
common orientation.

17
The external NEO-6 GPS module is connected to the APM
board using old style GPS connection as well as a connection to
feed it power from the APM.

The intended form of communication is RF transmission , with

the ground station and controller being a laptop with joysticks
connected to it and also connected through USB to a USB to
TTL module connected to our RF transceiver.

Mission planner software serves as the ground station for the

system ,also used for first time setup of the APM board , to load
firmware and also used for the system is configuration .

Mission planner is the ground station software in charge of

autopilot ,can set way points for our quad to carry out its
mission.
3. The Hardware of Quadcopter:

• Frame.
• Motors
• Propellers.
• ESCs.
• APM.
• GPS.
• 3DR Telemetry.
• Radio controller.
• Li-Po battery.

18
Essential Pieces Of Hardware
Frame:

The body of the quad on which everything is mounted, it’s most

important features are:

• Weight.

• Durability.
The frame that has been chosen is F450 4-Axis frame.[9]

It’s shown in figure 10).

Table (1): Specifications of frame.
Weight 598 grams (frame only)

Width 550mm

Height 265mm

Ground clearance 155mm (bottom of the frame),

185mm (camera mount rails)
Motor bolt holes 16~30mm

19
 Figure (10):F450 frame.

Why we chose this frame:

5. Made from light weight yet durable glass fiber as well as aluminum.

6. The extended landing mounts provide enough ground clearance to

mount the camera easily and safely.

7. The aluminum arms serve as a platform to mount the ESCs,

providing cooling for the ESCs.

8. The aluminum arms can be folded for ease of transportation and

storage of the quad.

Motors:
A quad-copter uses 4 motors to generate the thrust needed to make it fly.
Most motors operate according to Faraday’s law of induction.

20
Motor operation is based on attraction and repulsion between magnetic poles,
current flows through stator windings creating a magnetic pole that attracts the
nearest permanent magnet pole on the rotor which causes the rotor to spin if
the current shifts to an adjacent winding. Pushing current through each
winding in sequence will cause the rotor to start rotating.
Brushless motors VS brush motors: [6]
The biggest difference between brush and brushless motors is that in brush
motors the magnets are placed on stator and windings on rotor, while in
brushless motors, magnets are placed on rotor and windings on stator.

Figure (11): Brushed motor with windings on rotor and magnets on stator

Disadvantages of brushed motors:

1. Brushes wear out eventually.

2. Sparks and electrical noise caused by brushes making and breaking

connection.

3. Brushes decrease the maximum speed of the motor.

4. Harder to cool because the electromagnet is in the center.

5. Using brushes limits the number of poles the armature can have.

21
Advantages of brushless motors:
1. More precise, more efficient.

2. No sparks and less electrical noise due to lack of brush.

3. Easier to cool because electromagnets are on the stator.

4. You can increase the number of electromagnets on the stator for more
precise control.
The disadvantage of brushless motor is the higher cost but it’s compensated by
longer motor life and higher efficiency.

Figure (12): Brushless motor with windings on stator and magnets on rotor

The motor that has been chosen for the Quadcopter is A2212/13T
1000Kv brushless out runner motor, as shown in figure (13).

Figure (13): A2212/13T 1000Kv brushless out runner motor.[6]

22
Why we chose this motor:
• Efficient motor.

• Relatively cheap motor with enough thrust to

• carry the craft

• 4 x 1000 gm = a total of 4000 gm thrust.

• Since the weight of the quad with everything installed is

approximately 2000 gm.

• That leaves us with approximately 2000 gm, enough to carry a

camera and any other sensors might be added.

ESC:

ESC’s or Electronic speed controls are often used on electrically powered

radio control. It converts the DC power comes from the battery to AC current,
and converts the voltage to the voltage required for the brushless motors , not
all speed controllers have this capability, only those with BEC or UBEC
written on them which stand for universal battery elimination circuit.
ESC can control the speed and power of brushless motors; it also acts as a
dynamic break. By generating a three phase electric power low voltage source.

23
Types of ESCs:[11]

1- Brushed ESC : this is the first ESC that have been created, and it is used for
brushed motor (e.g.: electric RC vehicles).

2- Brushless ESC: is an advanced ESC that work with brushless motors by

sending a sequence of signals

Figure (14): ESC

How to choose the right ESC?

Each ESC is designed specifically for specific type of motor.

• The ESC has to match the type of motor, meaning you
have to use a brushless ESC for a brushless motor and a
brushed ESC with a brushed motor.

• The ESC also has to match the motor in the amperage

rating, because every motor requires different amount of
amps.
The ESC that has been chosen for the Quadcopter is Brushless ESC 30A,
as shown in figure(15).[10]

24
 Figure (15): Brushless ESC 30A.

3.1.4. Microcontroller: [6]

Quads are inherently unstable they constantly need an on board computer to
calculate the changes in rotor speeds necessary to stabilize the quad and adjust
their speeds accordingly.A microcontroller acts as the brain of the Quadcopter.
It’s responsible for all actions a quad can perform from take-off and landing to
autonomous flight as well as camera and sensors control.
For the Quadcopter has been chosen APM 2.6 which is an open source UAV
platform capable of controlling multi-copters, fixed wing crafts as well as
ground vehicles and boats and by employing a GPS module.
It can turn any of those vehicles into autonomous vehicles capable of carrying
out GPS missions programmed with way points, figure (16) shows the APM
inside its protective case.

Figure (16):APM inside its protective casing.

25
APM 2.6 features:
• Arduino compatible .
• Side and top entry pins.
• Includes 3-axis gyros, accelerometer and a high performance barometer.
• Onboard 4 megabyte data flash chip for automatic data logging.
• It’s composed of Atmel’s ATMEGA2560 and ATMEGA32U chips
which are used for processing and USB functions respectively.

Figure (17 ):APM overview

26
GPS:
APM 2.6 will be connected to NEO 6M GPS module with built in compass.[9]

Figure (18): NEO-6m GPS.

3.3.6. Battery: [12]

• Battery is the voltage source of the Quadcopter, 3 cell lithium
polymer battery needed for the project.
• Has chosen TIGER LI-PO battery (11.1 V, 2200 mAH, 3C).
• Lithium polymer battery with high capacity, its low weight and size,also
high power make it suitable for many applications.

Figure (19): 3 cell Li-Po battery.

27
Battery specifications:

Table (2):Tiger Li-Po battery specifications.

Capacity 2200 mAh

Configuration 11.1v,3cell

Pack weight 270 gm

Pack size 27 x 44 x 136 mm

Connector type TX-60 connector

Rechargeable Yes

Wireless communication:
Has been used a serial UART module, 700 m range, 433 MHZ frequency.
3DR Telemetry receiver and transmitter have been chosen for the Quadcopter,
as shown in figure (20). [6] This module is very similar to zigbee but much
cheaper, it’s easy to use with microcontroller APM 2.6 through Telemetry
port, can adjust baud rate, channel and power by connecting to pc through
USB port.

Figure (20):3DR Telemetry receiver and transmitter.

28
3DR Telemetry features:

• Serial UART can work directly with microcontroller

• easy to use.

• 3.3v – 5v operation, can operate directly with usb power.

• Default baud rate is 56700.

• Baud rate/channel can be modified using specific AT commands.

Radio Controller:[6]

Radio FlySky Fs-I6 has been chosen for the Quadcopter, as shown in
figure (21). Specifications of radio are:

• This transmitter is a 6 channel radio.

• This is to give the attitude control to quadcopter manually.
• The operating frequency is 2.4GHz.
• This is used for manually giving controls(Throttle, Pitch, Roll
and Yaw).
• Each channel is assigned a specific control using Mission
Planner SoftwareMission planner has an interface for calibration
of a radio controller for the Quadcopter

Figure (21): Radio controller

29
Figure (22,23): Quadcopter

30
 Chapter four

Conclusion and future work

1. Conclusion:
The main focus of this project was implementing a quad-copter
autopilot system .the main purpose of this quadcopter is to fly with
good stability and customized to provide several jobs by making
hardware and software changes to the system . finally after
connecting the APM to ESCs, motors , GPS, battery and RF
receiver, it should be able to live control the quadcopter on the
laptop by joystick through the RF transceiver.

2. Suggestions for future work:

It is hoped that some future work could carry out the suggestions
listed below:
1.Using smart phone as ground instead of laptop.
2.Providing the quadcopter with camera system .
3.Desing PID controller control the designed quadcopter.
4.Measure the field strength meter which is a relation between
distance from the transmitter and receiver and calculates it by
equation shown below. E=√30 /
E:is the electric field strength in volts per meter.
P: is the transmitter power output in watts .
D: is the distance from the radiator in meters.

31
References
Teppo Luukkonen,Modelling and control of quadcopter,School of Science, ]1[
Mat-2.4108,2011
Mahen M.A, Anirudh S Naik, Chethana H.D, Shasnk A.C, Design and ]2[
Development of Amphibious Quadcopter, International Journal of Mechanical
.and production Engineering ,2014
[3] Wenjing Liang:Attitude Estimation of Quadcopter throughExtended
Kalman Filter,Lehigh University(May 2017)

Adham Mohammed Tarek, Ahmed Soliman , Adam Shaboon, Quad- ]4[

.copter, Uninettuno University – Helwan University , 2012
,CBALAS, Modelling and Linear Control of a Quadrotor ]5[
. Cranfield University, 2007
.3D Robotics, https://3dr.com/,2017 ]6[
.Ardupilot, , https://ardupilot.org/, 2017 ]7[
Duarte Lopes Figueiredo , Autopilot and Ground Control Station for UAV, ]8[
.Tecnico Lisboa, 2014
.HobbyKing ,https://hobbyking.com, 2017 ]9[
.ESC, http://rctimer.com, 2017 ]10[
Michael David Schmidt, Simulation and Control of A Quadrotor ]11[
.Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, University of Kentucky,2011
Robotics, http://www.trossenrbotics.com, 2017 ]12[

32