DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN OF UAV (DRONE) WHICH COULD UTILIZE IN

RISKY OPERATIONS: A STUDY WITH A PURPOSE OF MINIMIZING THE RISK

ENCOUNTERED BY PUBLIC SERVANTS

Undoubtedly, the Philippine government lacks many operational devices, decreasing

operations’ success. In addition, public servants in the Philippines are exposed to extreme risk
when handling complex situations such as fire, flood rescue operations, landslides, criminalities,
and military operations. The drone is one of the facets of modern technology that public servants
may need to consider in adding to their safety arsenal. They are a tool that can be leveraged
today because of the vast amounts of possibilities and applications for these devices across a
wide array of emergency and survival scenarios. Obviously area and shelter security are the most
important cornerstones of safety but technology like drones can be a huge force multiplier in an
emergency scenario. As a result, the utilization of feedback and control engineering through
UAV’s (drones) will serve as a massive help for public servants in conducting various complex
operations in the field.

Figure 1 Drone for Threat protection

Based on the research done by K. Kernaghan (2014) which discusses the Digital
dilemmas about ethics in applying these technologies to a wider spectrum. Values, ethics and
information technology are taken into account when applications of new technologies are pushed
ion the public sector and organizations. Taking into account the potential impacts of these new
developments and innovations with issues of conflicts that brings friction to the established
norms. Applying drones to ensure safety of public servants carries with it its own problems that
must be resolved. The operational procedures on when and how to apply these devices.
Providing a sentry and a watchful eye, based on the description of the research done by J.
Delmerico, S. Mintchev, A. Giusti, B. Gromov, K. Melo, T. Horvat, T.and D. Scaramuzza
(2019) that delves into the current state and future outlook of rescue robotics. In their study
which has the focal point of security and surveillance of important individual by the use of
drones and other technologies showcases the remotely operated and autonomous devices to
facilitate and perform their functions on real-world scenarios.

Figure 1.1 Wireless technology for Communication

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are unmanned aircraft that are not piloted by humans,
use aerodynamic forces to generate lift, fly automatically or remotely, are extensible or
recoverable, and transport materials and devices.a Mainly it is controlled either independently or
remotely by on-board computers. Its use has been limited due to several considerations,
including satellite communication and expense. A drone has been constructed with a radio
frequency controller and the capacity to provide real-time audio and video feedback. Drones
might also be used to signal for help for example you could rig a drone up to emit an alert beacon
or an SOS light by simply mounting devices on it. This can be very useful for search and rescue
at night time you can also use the drone to physically deliver a message over a long distance so
for example if you found yourself hiking in the mountains and you were injured but you had
your drone you may be able to use that drone to get the attention of local authorities to come and
provide you or somebody else assistance who needs it. After a disaster strikes drones might also
be useful in surveying prospecting and scavenging supplies. It is important that if you are
seeking resources that you are not wasting more energy than you are potentially acquiring.
Drones can save you time and energy in this process. They may also be useful in identifying
settlements from a distance which will assist you with navigation maybe even finding suitable
areas. They can also of course be used to identify bodies of water and resources. This is a much
underrated application for drones. There is plenty of ways that you can utilize drone technology
for communication purposes. For example you might be able to mount an antenna or a repeater
to a drone to increase the range of your radio communications drones can also carry moderate
payloads over long distances. Previously you can use a drone to physically carry a message from
one place to another drones can also be used for signaling just the mere sight or the sound of the
drone alone can alert help to your location and lastly drones may also have some utility for mesh
networking purposes relaying signals on lo-fi networks this is basically setting up your own
localized internet.

Figure 1.3 Drone operator for private security firms

Environments can be a variable to determine the deployability and condition readiness of

unmanned aerial vehicles to increase and test the efficiency to decrease risk from personnel.
Some field applications of these drones require clandestine and secretive approaches serving as
scouts and reconnaissance function. Public servants can derive a good safety measure in adding
these interfaces that aims to apply current state of the art equipment in protecting the lives of
these persons. Accordingly, the research proposed to carry out this study to build and create an
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can be used to limit risk exposure for public people during
high-risk tasks. There are many uses for the Drone proposed in this study, including police,
monitoring flood-affected regions, recording video footage from inaccessible sites, and a range
of security activities. An Android smartphone with GPS was also used to track the Drone's
location and offer real-time audio and visual feedback from the Drone.
Part of the Drone to be analyzed:

Since this project proposal aims to create a drone that can be managed without the
assistance of a human (unmanned), the researchers will concentrate on the Drone's control
system design, control system simulation, and telemetry system. The researchers were required
to develop a GPS tracking Android application to track the location of the Drone and an IP
camera program to obtain a live video stream from the Drone. Furthermore, because an
unmanned aerial vehicle must work remotely, multiple communication systems are employed in
this project, including radio communication, Wi-Fi communication, and 3G communication. The
Drone's telemetry system will handle these.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SYSTEM

A typical drone has four rotors that are responsible for its flight. These have fixed angles
and they make the UAV to have four input forces, which are basically the thrust provided by
each propellers. The drone can maintain forward and backward motion by way of alternations of
increasing and decreasing speed of front and rear rotors speeds. The combination of decreasing
rear rotor speeds and vice versa is the approach of changing the movement of the drone. This
means changing the pitch angle to compensate for action/reaction effects as portrayed by
Newton's Second and Third Law of Motion.

A mathematical model for the drone will be implemented and developed for the purpose
of control and operations. The simulation of the model and controller design is developed in
MATLAB/Simulink environment. Although it remains a complete nonlinear system, this paper
operates with mathematical representation of the drone and modeling of the intended system. A
linearization of the obtained mathematical model will help in computation needed for drone
flight. In order to design the attitude controller, the transfer function of the brushless DC motors
which are responsible of the UAV motion is obtained using system identification techniques. A
complete set of data is described here to achieve this. The designed controller is assessed and
simulation results are calibrated. A typical drone has four rotors that are responsible for its flight.
These have fixed angles and they make the UAV to have four input forces, which are basically
the thrust provided by each propellers. Now we talk about the obvious downsides of drones, for
starters they require a power supply unless you have some sort of renewable power source like a
solar panel so proper management of electricity and notification to the user must be included in
the system. For instance it's likely that you're going to be limited in the duration of which you're
able to employ such a technology they're also going to require GPS signals to maximize their
capabilities if after a disaster struck the GPS satellites were not properly calibrated then they
would lose this functionality and be much harder to fly. They are also going to have limited
range and run time depending on the models of UAV.

FUNCTIONAL BLOCK DIAGRAM

Figure 2. System’s Block Diagram

By changing the combination of rotor speeds, the drone can maneuver its direction. This
command is done and sent to the drone using the controller. In tandem with this while the drone
is operation is the array of sensors onboard the UAV which are active when it is operational.
Motor control is the primary function of drone flight which is managed by stabilizing signals to
maintain a powered flight. The feedback to the user comes in the form of measurement devices
that are sensors. The start of data gathering is started when the whole system is powered on.
They provide valuable information that the sensors gathers are recorded or streamed back into
receivers.

DERIVATION OF TRANSFER FUNCTION

  Rotor Model

When the movement dynamics can be described by a linear equation the transfer function can be
derived. It will be based on control theory for the controller and Newton’s two laws of motion
particularly the Second and Third Law of Motion for the drone’s movement. The third law states
that all forces between two objects as equal in magnitude and opposite direction. For example of
one object X exerts a force FX on a second object Y, then Y simultaneously exerts a force FY on
X. Thus the two forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction: F x = −Fy. The one-sided
Laplace transform of a signal x(t) is defined as:

(1)

Where,

t = time in seconds

s = σ + jω is a complex variable

When evaluated along the jω axis, for example if σ = 0, the Laplace Transform reduces to the
unilateral Fourier transform:

The Fourier transform equals the Laplace transform evaluated along the jω axis in the complex s
plane. Thus the Laplace transform generalizes the Fourier transform from the real line to the
entire complex plane. Applying this to the of Newton’s Third Law of Motion as Laplace analysis
of linear systems. This is shown as differentiation which is converted into algebraic equations.
From Newton’s second law of motion F=ma we then derive a formula:

(2)

Which has its Laplace transform as:

 (3)

Where,

F(s) = Laplace transform of the driving force f(t)

x(0) = initial mass position

x˙(0) ∆= v(0) = initial mass velocity

Newton’s third law of motion:

(4)

Which has its Laplace transform as:

(5)

Simplifying,

Let m = 2, and k = 5.

Thus the transfer function for the rotors is:

 Figure 3. Derived transfer function for Rotor

 PID Controller
Gpid(s) = Kp+Ki/s + Kds (6)

Where Kp proportional term; K1 is the integral term; Kd derivative term; s is the Laplace
operator. In practice, derivative term is rarely used because it is very sensitive to noise and can
worsen stability of the system. Thus, only PI controller is used, meaning:

Gpid(s) = Kp + Ki/s (7)

Let Kp=1 and Ki=1.
Thus, the transfer function for PID controller is:

Figure 4. Derived transform function for PID Controller

 Sensors

Input and output behavior of sensors can also be displayed by linear differential equations.

(8)

Where,

y(t) – output quantity

x(t) – input quantity

t – time

ai, bi – constant physical parameters of system

The simplified form of Laplace function for sensors is:

 (9)

Figure 5. Series of functions for sensors

Figure 6. Simplified transfer function for sensors

Let τ = 1/25, ωn = 0.2, kt = 2, kd = 1, ka = 1.

Thus the transfer function for sensors is:

Figure 7. Derived transfer function for sensors

 This is a closed-loop system wherein R(s) is the input. R(s) to C(s) is the direct path to
the output. The return loop follows back to Gsensor from the output. The figure below shows the
transform function for the whole system:

Figure 8. Simplified block diagram of the system

Using block diagram reduction to solve for the transform function of the system. Firstly, use rule
1 for blocks connected in series.

G1 = Gpid*Grotor

Figure 9. Reduced block diagram of the system

Use rule 3 for blocks connected in a feedback loop and simplify.

Thus, the transfer function of the overall system is:

Figure 10. Derived transfer function of the overall system

OUTPUT RESPONSE OF THE SYSTEM AND CHARACTERISTICS

The results of the overall system is estimated as the measure of the inputs and processes
within. Inputs for our system is digitized and sensors have an analog input but transmits a digital
output afterwards. The digitized commands for rotor control is translated as pulse within its
motors.

Figure 11. Output response of the system

 Figure 12. Step response plot of the system

According to the graph the system is expected to oscillate within the range of the values
given an amount of time. This means that there is a delay time for the system to prepare and
activate.

Figure 13. Characteristics of the output response

 Figure 14. Time constant, frequency, and damping of poles

STABILITY OF THE SYSTEM

Rigidness and stability must be implemented within the system to withstand undesired
change in values. The parameters must be within the limits of its operating capacity and does not
impact the output. The primary functions must not be severely impacted by this fluctuations of
parameters.

The criterion states that any system can be stable only if all the roots of the first column
have the same sign. If it does not has the same sign or there is a sign change then the number of
sign changes in the first column is equal to the number of roots of the characteristic equation in
the right.
 Figure 15. Using Routh-Hurwitz Criterion to solve the stability of the system

Figure 12: This shows the stability test using MATLAB

The function returns a logical value of 1 which means the system is stable enough. The
output will not be affected or altered by other factors.

SENSITIVITY OF THE SYSTEM

Every control system analysis will inevitably contain unknown variables. Design
modifications can be used to reduce the impact of these hidden elements. The controller must be
modified so that the closed loop system is not harmed. A diagram that denotes the disturbances
in the system can be used to depict the disruptions. The disturbance inside the system is
represented by N(s).
 Figure 16. Block diagram of the system with disturbance

Figure 17. Sensitivity for the system

We may test for sensitivity and disruption in the entire system using the feedback tool in
MATLAB. This function represents the forward path as the first input and the feedback path as
the second.

It displays the system's sensitivity response when a disturbance is presented. Through

bode plotting, we can derive the system's nominal sensitivity peak using MATLAB's sensitivity
function.
 Figure 18. Bode Plot

By looking at the bode plot the peak sensitivity can be estimated as -3.52 while the
nominal peak sensitivity is computed as -56.4.

Figure 19: Calculation of nominal sensitivity peak using MATLAB

By looking at figure 19, the result is 1.1545 which is relatively low and signifies that the
system is effective.

References

J. Delmerico, S. Mintchev, A. Giusti, B. Gromov, K. Melo, T. Horvat, T.and D.

Scaramuzza(2019) The current state and future outlook of rescue robotics. Journal of Field
Robotics, 36(7), 1171-1191.
Delmerico, S. Mintchev, A. Giusti, B. Gromov, K. Melo, T. Horvat, T.and D. Scaramuzza
(2019). The current state and future outlook of rescue robotics. Journal of Field Robotics, 36(7),
1171-1191.

K. Kernaghan (2014). Digital dilemmas: Values, ethics and information technology. Canadian

Public Administration, 57(2), 295-317.