aiqbench analysis
This research advances multirotor flight control by directly measuring instantaneous rotor thrust using load-cells to reject aerodynamic disturbances like gusts, challenging the long-held view that such sensor data is too noisy for practical use. By implementing high-speed feedback loops with low-cost hardware on both stationary models and flying aircraft, the study demonstrates a robust method to counteract complex phenomena without relying solely on trajectory-based estimation delays.
Direct Rotor Thrust Sensing and Feedback Control for Disturbance Rejection of Multirotors Using Load-cells
arXiv:2607.10099v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Gust disturbances, dynamic vertical inflow and ground effect are key adverse aerodynamic phenomena that induce variations in the forces acting on a multirotor and complicate its flight control. Miniature rotorcraft typically rely on simplified modelling of such effects to compute adjustments in thrust to counteract these forces. In the most basic case, disturbance force estimations are derived from the aircraft's motion and the generated thrust is assumed to exactly match that requested by the controller. However, such systems rely on the aircraft's trajectory to be affected before disturbances can be sensed and compensated. Numerous approaches presented over the last 15-20 years aim to reject external disturbances more quickly, but challenges remain. This paper presents a new approach in this category by measuring the instantaneous force of the rotors directly at the point of generation using load-cells and implementing high-speed control to accurately track the desired thrust. Measurements from load-cells were previously considered too noisy to provide meaningful input, but the experiments presented in the paper using purpose-built hardware from low-cost commodity components in single- and dual rotor see-saw models and a flying aircraft demonstrate both the feasibility and the effectiveness of the approach in the presence of complex aerodynamic phenomena.
Abstract:Gust disturbances, dynamic vertical inflow and ground effect are key adverse aerodynamic phenomena that induce variations in the forces acting on a multirotor and complicate its flight control. Miniature rotorcraft typically rely on simplified modelling of such effects to compute adjustments in thrust to counteract these forces. In the most basic case, disturbance force estimations are derived from the aircraft's motion and the generated thrust is assumed to exactly match that requested by the controller. However, such systems rely on the aircraft's trajectory to be affected before disturbances can be sensed and compensated. Numerous approaches presented over the last 15-20 years aim to reject external disturbances more quickly, but challenges remain. This paper presents a new approach in this category by measuring the instantaneous force of the rotors directly at the point of generation using load-cells and implementing high-speed control to accurately track the desired thrust. Measurements from load-cells were previously considered too noisy to provide meaningful input, but the experiments presented in the paper using purpose-built hardware from low-cost commodity components in single- and dual rotor see-saw models and a flying aircraft demonstrate both the feasibility and the effectiveness of the approach in the presence of complex aerodynamic phenomena.
Robotics (cs.RO)
arXiv:2607.10099 [cs.RO]
(or arXiv:2607.10099v2 [cs.RO] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2607.10099 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite
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