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Product Design Quadcopter-Teardown Report: Submitted By: M.Muneeb Irfan (2018-MC-87) Submitted To: Dr. Ali Raza

A quadcopter has four arms with a motor and propeller on each. It uses its four propellers to generate lift and control forces to fly. A typical quadcopter comes with a 4 channel controller that sends commands to change the RPM of each propeller for throttle, yaw, pitch and roll control. It relies on its flight control system to coordinate the four propellers based on control inputs to move in different directions. Quadcopters provide an accessible way to experience remote control flying.

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Muneeb Irfan
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74 views6 pages

Product Design Quadcopter-Teardown Report: Submitted By: M.Muneeb Irfan (2018-MC-87) Submitted To: Dr. Ali Raza

A quadcopter has four arms with a motor and propeller on each. It uses its four propellers to generate lift and control forces to fly. A typical quadcopter comes with a 4 channel controller that sends commands to change the RPM of each propeller for throttle, yaw, pitch and roll control. It relies on its flight control system to coordinate the four propellers based on control inputs to move in different directions. Quadcopters provide an accessible way to experience remote control flying.

Uploaded by

Muneeb Irfan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Product Design

Quadcopter-teardown Report

Submitted By: M.Muneeb Irfan (2018-MC-87)


Submitted To: Dr. Ali Raza

UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY LAHORE


28-July-2021
Abstract
A quadcopter, or multirotor, drone, or quadrotor, is a simple flying mechanical vehicle
that has four arms, and in each arm there is a motor attached to a propeller.
Multicopters with three, six or eight arms are also possible, but work on the same
principal as a quadcopter. Two of the rotors turn clockwise, while the other two turn
counter clockwise. Quadcopters are aerodynamically unstable, and require a flight
computer to convert your input commands into commands that change the RPMs of
the propellers to produce the desired motion.

Quadcopters differ from a helicopter or a fixed wing aircraft in the way they generate
lift and control forces. For an aircraft the lift is generated by the wings, but in a
quadcopter the lift is generated by the propellers. A helicopter uses its main rotor to
generate lift, but also have the ability to vary the pitch of the rotor blades to generate
control forces.
The quadcopter concept is not new. Manned quadcopter designs appeared in the
1920s and 1930s, but these early concepts had bad performance, a high level of
instability, and required a lot of pilot inputs. The advancement of electronic
technology in flight control computers, coreless or brushless motors, smaller
microprocessors, batteries, accelerometers, cameras, and even GPS systems made it
possible to design and fly quadcopters. The simplicity of the quadcopter has made it a
very effective aerial photography and video platform.

Teardown Snaps:
The Controller
A typical quadcopter comes with a 4 channel controller that sends commands to the
drone to affect its throttle, yaw, pitch and roll. The communications frequency used by
most controllers is 2.4 GHz. This is also the typical frequency used for WiFi
connections. Though it is unlikely that interference takes place, it may be something
worth checking if you are experience communications lag or dropouts with your
quadcopter.
The controller also has 4 trim buttons to allow you to make minor corrections to your
quadcopter flight behavior. If you notice that with no control input, the drone drifts in
a particular direction, applying trim for that control input in the opposite direction will
remove the drift.
The Propellers
It is important that you always remember that there are two sets of propellers, and two
set of motors that rotate in the opposite direction. The pitch on the two sets of
propellers are different. So if you switch a set of opposite propellers, they will be
blowing air up instead of down. This results in a downward force on the quadcopter
leading to your drone flipping, and not flying. When you take the propellers be sure to
mark which motors they belong to. If you look carefully, the propeller will have a
mark indicating which set of motors that it belongs to.
QuadCopter Dynamics
There are four main forces that act on a quadcopter
Gravity – this should be obvious to everyone. This is the force that pulls the
quadcopter down due to its mass
Lift – this is the upward reaction force on the quadcopter due to the propellors
Thrust – this is the horizontal reaction force on the quadcopter due to the propellors
Drag – this is the backward force on the quadcopter due to air. Imagine being in a car,
and putting your hand out the window. The air hitting your hand is trying to push
back.
QuadCopter Hovering
Hovering takes place when the upward lift balances the downward force of gravity.
To make the drone to higher, the lift force needs to be greater than the force of
gravity. This is achieved by increasing RPM on all four propellers simultaneously,
which produces more lift. To decrease the altitude, the RPM is decreased on all four
propellers simultaneously. On your controller, this is accomplished by pushing the left
stick up or down, which increases or decreases the rotor RPM, which makes your
quadcopter go up or down.
In order to move the drone left, right, forwards, and backwards, we change the angle
of the lifting force so it has a vertical and horizontal component. The vertical
component still serves to keep the quadcopter in the air, while the horizontal
component allows produces control thrust.
QuadCopter Motion
To make quadcopter move forward or backwards, we adjust the pitch using the right
stick on the controller. What happens is that the front propellers decrease RPMs,
while the back propellers increase RPMs. Now the lift force has a horizontal
component which results in moving the quadcopter forward. The opposite happens to
make your quadcopter go backwards. The front propeller RPM is increased, while the
back propeller RPM is decreased.
To move your quadcopter move sideways, a similar change in RPM takes place, but
this time it is on the left and right propellers. To make your drone move to left, you
need to point the lift force slightly to the left. This is done by decreasing the RPM on
the left rotors, and increasing the RPM on the right side. A similar change in the rotor
RPMs takes place to move your quadcopter to the left.
Flight Control System
Your quadcopter flies and moves by changing the RPMs of each propeller. So when
you move a stick on your controller, this command needs to be converted into the
proper commands each of the four motors on your quadcopter. This is done by the
flight control system. The purpose of the flight computer is to simplify the
coordination of the control of all four propellers needed to make your drone fly. The
flight control computer has the ability to connect to several other devices and sensors.
The primary device that it connects to is the remote control receiver, which is linked
to your remote transmitter.
In advanced quadcopter, the flight controller also has a transmitter to communicate
with your controller, to provide two way communication. Typical sensors come with
more complex quadcopters include GPS, gyro compass, and baramoter.
Summary
Quadcopters are an economical way to introduce yourself to the world of remote
control aerial vehicles. They are fun to fly, and with some practice and patience
anyone can learn how to fly a quadcopter.

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