Control systems and structures for UAV

• Main Author: Acaban, Christin Grace
• Other Authors: Wang Jianliang
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/75528
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

With the ever-growing advancement in technology today comes a more complex form of machinery that provides an easier and efficient way of doing things. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) becoming more prevalent in the modern society for leisure purposes and no longer constrained to the purpose of the military. What was used in the past for military surveillance has provided a different purpose like a hobby between people for either photography or racing. The UAV is equipped with a Pixhawk flight controller which feature a various number of sensors as it provides control and automation to ensure a smooth flight. Some of the sensors embedded in this module includes – Accelerometer, Gyroscope and an Internal Compass. LED lights on the Pixhawk reflects the status of the UAV. There are also external components connected to the flight controller as well, and with the risk of a synergistic effect, it is required to adjust the components to suit the needs of this project. Failsafe functions such as pre-arm safety are activated to ensure that there are no issues during the set-up or calibration process that may occur during flight. Mission Planner is the ground station used to display real-time statistics of the location, altitude and speed of the UAV while in the air. Calibration and autopilot missions can also be done on this software. Flight modes such as Altitude Hold and Return to Launch (RTL) are flight functions toggled through a set of logical switches which would reflect on the UAV while in the air. Autopilot missions are set up using way-points which can be done either on the Mission Planner or on a Tower application which can be downloaded on a smartphone. Flight runs are done manually, and on autopilot through the mission planner and the Tower application. The purpose of this project is to understand the control system and structure of a structured 6-rotor UAV and eventually achieve flight on autopilot using the stated means.