Introduction to Quadrotors and Control Theory

Name: Introduction to Quadrotors and Control Theory
Rating: 4.0 (37 reviews)

Learn to build your own dynamical simulation of a quadrotor drone and to control it using PIDs

Created byLuminita Cristiana Totu

Last updated 7/2019

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

to model the dynamics of a quadrotor drone
to build flight stabilization algorithms based on PID controllers

Course content

4 sections • 15 lectures • 1h 42m total length

Course Introduction1:52
Build a mathematical model and Python simulation of a quadrotor to design flight stabilization and position controllers, using the Crazyflie as an open-source reference for hardware and algorithms.
Quadrotor Components2:10
Examine the quadrotor as a system by detailing its frame, electronics, battery, motors, and propellers, and relate rigid body motion, PID flight control, and signal mappings to forces and torques.
Principles of Flight11:55
Uncover how four propellers generate thrust and torque, use plus and cross configurations and two propeller types to achieve six maneuvers, with coupling and underactuation explained.
Quadrotor Introduction Quiz

Kinematics17:51
Introduces position, velocity and acceleration as vectors, and looks at translation and rotation motion.
Kinematics Quiz
Unit Quaternions and Euler Angles8:29
Introduces Unit Quaternions and intrinsic Euler angles x-y-z
Unit Quaternions and Euler Angles Quiz
Dynamics12:48
Relate external forces to linear and angular accelerations to analyze translational and rotational motion of rigid bodies, center of mass, and inertia matrix for quadrotor dynamics.
Dynamics Quiz
Summary of Equations of Motion3:54
Summarizes the equations of motion for a rigid body, linking position and orientation to forces and torques. Introduces Euler's method for simple numerical integration.
Quadrotor Forces and Torques4:42
Quadrotor Forces and Torques Quiz
Python Simulation of the Quadrotor5:35

Feedback and Controllers3:26
Review feedback and controllers to illustrate how a controller converts outputs into inputs and creates a closed-loop system that reshapes the quadrotor dynamics toward the control objective.
Feedback and Controllers Quiz
PID Controllers7:57
Explore single input, single output pid controllers, including proportional, integral, and derivative terms, set point control, error correction, and tuning strategies, with practical examples in position, velocity, and cruise control.
PID Controllers Quiz
Controller Structure and Model Simplification5:31
Describe the typical quadrotor controller structure with position, altitude, and attitude controllers for hover and heading, using a small-angle hover model, decoupled channels, and model-inversion based allocation.
Controller Structure and Model Simplification Quiz
Attitude Controller9:51
Stabilize the quadrotor's attitude by applying pd control to roll, pitch, and heading angles, using rate and angle feedback loops with gyroscope measurements in discrete-time simulations.
Attitude Controller Quiz
Position Controller6:45
Explore position control for quadrotors, using decoupled horizontal and vertical channels and API control based on position and velocity errors, demonstrated via step responses and 10 hertz simulations.
Position Controller Quiz

Requirements

Python programming
Basic elements of Linear Algebra
Basic knowledge of Differential Equations
Familiarity with highschool Physics

Description

This course takes you through the basic elements of building a physically based quadrotor drone simulation, and introduces elements of control theory, such as the feedback loop and PID controllers. You will learn about representing rotation in 3D space using rotation matrices, quaternions and Euler angles. You will learn to implement a discrete-time PID controller, and an entire PID-based controller structure for attitude and position control for non-aggresive flight. You will be provided with a reference implementation in Python to experiment with.

Who this course is for:

Students interested in Quadrotors
Students interested in Rigid Body Motion
Students interested in PIDs
Students interested in drones

Introduction to Quadrotors and Control Theory

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction3 lectures • 16min

Rigid Body Motion6 lectures • 53min

Flight Stabilization5 lectures • 34min

Bibliography1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: