Flight Basics

Dr. D. Sathian
Assistant Professor
SCOPE
Quadcopter
• Actuators located on the vertices of a
virtual square
• Two opposite motors spin in the same
direction (CW & CCW)
• Six degrees of freedom
• Four independent rotor speeds
• Differential thrust technique used to tilt
and translate
• Uses both rotational and translational
motion
Quadcopter Dynamics
• Yaw (turning left and right) is controlled by turning up the
speed of the regular rotating motors and taking away
power from the counter-rotating; by taking away the
exact amount that you put in on the regular rotors
produces no extra lift (it won’t go higher) but since the
counter-torque is now less, the quadcopter rotates.
Control becomes a matter of which motor gets more
power and which one gets less.
• Roll (tilting left and right) is controlled by increasing
speed on one motor and lowering on the opposite one.
• Pitch (moving up and down, similar to nodding) is
controlled the same way as roll but using the second set
of motors.
Quadcopter Dynamics
Hover equilibrium condition:
• Fly on constant inertial coordinates
Flight Modes
• Flight modes define how the autopilot responds to remote control
input and how it manages vehicle movement during fully
autonomous flight.
• The modes provide different types/levels of autopilot assistance
to the user (pilot), ranging from automation of common tasks like
takeoff and landing, through to mechanisms that make it easier to
regain level flight, hold the vehicle to a fixed path or position, etc.
• There are 2 main types of modes: Manual & Autonomous modes
Flight Modes
• Manual-Easy: Position, Altitude, Manual/Stabilized, Orbit
• Manual-Acrobatic: Acro
• Autonomous: Hold, Return, Mission, Takeoff, Land, Follow-
Me, Offboard
Information
Manual mode. Remote control required.
Automatic mode. RC control is disabled by default except to
change modes. Local position estimate required.
GPS fix required (position mode).
Altitude required (e.g. from barometer, rangefinder) Altitude
mode.
Flight Modes
• Position mode is an easy-to-fly RC mode in which roll and pitch sticks
control acceleration over ground in the vehicle's forward-back and left-
right directions (similar to a car's accelerator pedal), and throttle
controls speed of ascent-descent.
• When the sticks are released/centred, the vehicle will actively brake,
level, and be locked to a position in 3D space — compensating for
wind and other forces.
• Position mode is the safest manual mode for new fliers.
• Unlike Altitude and Manual/Stabilized modes, the vehicle will stop
when the sticks are centred rather than continuously drifting without
constant manual guidance.
Flight Modes
• Altitude mode is a relatively easy-to-fly RC mode in which roll and pitch
sticks control vehicle movement in the left-right and forward-back directions
(relative to the "front" of the vehicle), yaw stick controls rate of rotation
over the horizontal plane, and throttle controls speed of ascent-descent.
• When the sticks are released/centered the vehicle will level and maintain
the current altitude. If moving in the horizontal plane, the vehicle will
continue until any momentum is dissipated by wind resistance.
• If the wind blows the aircraft will drift in the direction of the wind.
• Altitude mode is the safest non-GPS manual mode for new fliers. It is just
like manual/stabilized mode but stabilizes the vehicle's altitude when the
sticks are released.
Flight Mode
• Acro mode is the RC mode for performing acrobatic manoeuvres e.g. rolls
and loops.
• The roll, pitch and yaw sticks control the angular rotation rate around the
respective axes and throttle is passed directly to control allocation. When
sticks are centred, the vehicle will stop rotating but remain in its current
orientation (on its side, inverted, or whatever) and move according to its
current momentum.
Flight Mode
• The Orbit mode allows you to command a multicopter to fly in a circle,
yawing so that it always faces towards the center.
• A GCS is required to enable the mode, and to set the center position and
initial radius of the orbit. By default the vehicle will then perform a slow
ongoing orbit around the center position (1m/s) in a clockwise direction.
• RC control is optional, and can be used to change the orbit altitude, radius,
speed, and direction.
Flight Mode
• Hold mode causes the multicopter to stop and hover at its current position and altitude
(maintaining position against wind and other forces).
• The mode can be used to pause a mission or to help regain control of a vehicle in an
emergency. It can be activated with a pre-programmed RC switch or
the QGroundControl Pause button.
• Return mode causes the vehicle to fly a clear path to a safe location. The mode may be
activated manually (via a pre-programmed RC switch) or automatically (i.e. in the event of
a failsafe being triggered).
• The return behaviour depends on parameter settings and may follow a mission path and/or
mission landing pattern (if defined).
• By default, a mulitcopter will simply ascend to a safe height, fly to its home position, and then
land.
Flight Mode
• Mission mode causes the vehicle to execute a predefined
autonomous mission (flight plan) that has been uploaded to the flight controller.
The mission is typically created and uploaded with a Ground Control Station (GCS)
application.
• Takeoff mode causes the multicopter to climb vertically to takeoff altitude and
hover in position.
• Land mode causes the multicopter to land at the location at which the mode was
engaged.
• Follow Me mode causes a multicopter to autonomously follow and track a user
providing their current position setpoint. Position setpoints might come from an
Android phone/tablet running QGroundControl or from a MAVSDK app.
• Offboard mode causes the multicopter to obey a position, velocity or attitude
setpoint provided over MAVLink.