A

Seminar Report
On
MONOCOPTER
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement
For the award of the
Degree of
Bachelor of Technology
In
Aeronautical Engineering

Supervision by: Submitted by:

Mr. Anshul Khandelwal Prashant Kumar Dadheech
Assistant Professor 12/609
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

RAJASTHAN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY KOTA
May 2016
 Department of Mechanical Engineering

Rajasthan Technical University,

Kota-324010

Dated: 27/05/2016

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Prashant Kumar Dadheech, college roll no. 12/609 and university
roll no. 12EUCAN019 has submitted the seminar report entitled Monocopter in partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Technology
(Aeronautical Engineering). The report has been prepared as per the prescribed format and is
approved for submission and presentation.

Signature of Guide

Mr. Anshul Khandelwal

Assistant Professor
Dept. of Mechanical Engg.
RTU, Kota-324010
 CONTENTS

Acknowledgement i
Abstract ii
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
1.1 History of monocopter
1.2 Components
1.2.1 Airframe
1.2.2 Power source
1.2.3 Wing
1.2.4 Avionics
Chapter 2: Propulsion & lift system 6
2.1 Autorotation
2.2 Rotor forces
2.2.1 Lift
2.2.2 Drag
2.2.3 Thrust
Chapter 3: Payload 9
3.1 Sensors
3.2 Communications
3.3 Power management system
Chapter 4: Guidance, navigation and control 11
4.1 Stability augmentation system
4.2 Navigation
4.3 Control methodology evolution
Chapter 5: Applications and Future scope 14
Chapter 6: Conclusion
16
References 17
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my guide Mr. Anshul Khandelwal as
well as seminar coordinators Dr. Brajesh Tripathi and Head of Department Prof. Sanjeev
Mishra who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful seminar on the topic
Monocopter which also helped me to know about so many new things. I am really thankful to
them.

Prashant Kumar Dadheech

C.R. No. 12/609
Final Year B. Tech.
Aeronautical Engineering
 ABSTRACT

Present report initially covers definition and types of a Monocopter. All the prominent historical
facts, down to the present scenario, are mentioned for systematic and gradual conception of
elementary ideas. Through this report I have tried to present a detailed discussion on working
principle of a monocopter, its status as a UAV. Additionally, aerodynamics, stability and various
aspects related to its merits and demerits are also discussed. With the help of descriptive
diagrams, stability controls of a monocopter compared to that of a typical UAV are clearly
visualized.

Major inspiration towards its detailed study includes its biological design and simple mechanical
nature. The motto of covering all possibilities of exploring potential usage of its simple yet
unique principle is visible throughout this work.
 Chapter-1

INTRODUCTION

Monocopter is a kind of rotary flight system or Gyropter which uses a single wing for flight. The
main idea for building this flyer has been taken from the maple seed. When this seed asides from
the maple tree, it flies precisely and regularly like a small helicopter till it comes down to the
ground. In this state, the heavier part which contains the seed has the role of rotary axes and
center of gravity while the terminative part operates like a wing or a propeller in which a small
lift force can be produced by this rotating system and it lands slowly like a glider.

Monocopter is a single-wing rotary flight system which has the capability of hovering. This flyer
includes two dynamic parts in which more efficiency can be expected in comparison to other
Micro UAVs due to the extended area of wing compared to its frame. Low capital cost and
simple mechanism in comparison to other systems such as helicopter are the most important
specifications of this flight system.

1.1 HISTORY OF MONOCOPTER

First time, the idea of building Micro UAV using this flight model was proposed by the DARPA
institution in 2006. The model was based on the steady blade-element momentum theory and was
used to provide better understanding of the behavior of a monocopter in steady auto- rotation.
The model was able to predict the descent and rotation rates within 10% accuracy. The
simulations were also used to predict and evaluate the effects that different types of actuators
have on the vehicles flight dynamics in autorotation. The obtained simulation results
successfully predicted the stability during control actuation as well as considerable control
authority. In addition, the simulation served as a design tool for tailoring the characteristics of the
monocopter in order to attain the desired steady-state performance.

The equations for determining the mass properties of a monocopter were presented together with
the equations of rigid-body dynamics. The blade-element theory was proposed to determine the
aero dynamic forces and moments acting on the vehicle. However, the proposed monocopter
model was never realized. A first- approximation model of a two-winged vehicle was presented
for the purpose of designing a control system. The vehicle used an actuation system that could
provide forward flight without tilting the stable horizontal rotor disk. Because of this, it was
possible to simplify the analysis of the vehicles motion and focus on translational motion only.
Vertical motion and horizontal motion were treated separately.
A very simplified model was used to determine the thrust of the rotor disk, where it was assumed
that the thrust was directly proportional to the square of the rotational speed of the vehicle. A
characterization of forward-flight dynamics of a nanoscale monocopter was performed in order
to provide a basis for a control model and state estimation. The paper derived the equations of
rigid- body dynamics for a flight path consisting of a helical turn. These equations were the next
ended to forward flight and linearized about a trimmed flight condition, providing small-
perturbation equations of motion. Motion tracking equipment was used to record the flight path
of the monocopter. These data were then used to estimate the parameters of the small-
perturbation model.

Reports on the analytical model of a monocopter, but the aerodynamic theory used to develop the
model was not presented therein nor in any other publication. The model was able to simulate
passive stability and translational flight of a monocopter. It combined NavierStokes
computational fluid dynamics with the blade-element and free-wake vortex models in order to
increase the accuracy of the simulations, on the one hand, and to decrease the computational
effort, on the other hand. Till now, few research institutes conduct their research directions to this
subject. A few of them can successfully build the monocopter control and supervisory system.
Some of these projects with desirable outcomes have been carried out in the universities of MIT
[Figure 1.1 (1)], the Lockheed Martin Company [Figure 1.1 (2)] and the Maryland University
[figure 1.1 (3)].

Figure 1.1 The monocopter types

Natural autorotation ying object can be reected to single-winged seeds, known as samara. First
study on maple seed motion carried out in 1991 by Seter and Rosen. They performed an
elaborated study of maple seed autorotation dynamics and derived a precise analytical model
continuing with numerical simulation. The numerical results were then compared with the flight
test data. Andreas Kellas at MIT performed a research study on the implementation of a rudder-
control strategy for an auto rotating samara similar to a maple seed. In 2008 MIT University
designed a monocopter with successful flight test but didn't perform dynamic analysis and no
effort was made to relate the stability with aerodynamic parameters. Major survey on samara is
performed at Maryland University.

A linear dynamic model of a samara has been developed by the team utilizing system
identification. Also, to determine the thrust fore of the electric motor, considering the
aerodynamic body several tests were also conducted. In Seter and Rosens study, a mathematical
model is presented for the vertical autorotation of a falling samara wing and conducted a serial of
experiments, allowing prediction of some in-ight characteristics based on simplied
assumptions. The stability of the descending motion inuenced by dierent initial states and
wing parameters were discussed in Rosen and Seters study. Yasuda and Azuma studied the
inuence of wings geometry and surface characteristics on the states of falling dynamics such as
descending speed and spinning rate, by experimental approaches. In addition, the experiments
were conducted to reveal the ight performance for samara in transverse wind by the use of
blow-down wind tunnel. Among the performed studies concerning the autorotation of articial
single-winged aircraft, multi-degrees of freedom (multi-DOF) system of samara-wing
decelerator was presented to analyze the characteristic of descending and lunar rotation. Besides,
a model composed of 12 rigid-body degrees of freedom is established by nite element method
to study the dynamics of a samara- wing decelerator.

Renewed interest in centimeter-scale ight vehicles for short-range urban surveillance and
sampling missions led to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)s Nano Air
Vehicle (NAV) program. Thus monocopter emerges a single-winged rotorcraft driven by a fuel-
powered jet thruster or propeller. Following the end of the NAV program, continued research and
development led by Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories resulted in successful
demonstration of ight by Samarai vehicles at multiple scales. By modeling the rotating wing as
a lower-complexity spinning disk and using the disk states for feedback control, a control design
was proposed in Fregene and Bolden. In Obradovic et al.s study, a multi-scale simulation
methodology is presented, utilizing computational uid dynamics (CFD)-based prediction of the
aerodynamic behavior. As for low Reynolds number aerodynamics exerted on micro-scale
monocopters, the experimental models, instrumentation, and methodology used to obtain data
were discussed by Youngren et al., showing good correlation with the data from XFOIL.

A group from the University of Maryland had developed a visual tracking system to track the
three dimensional position of three retro-reective markers placed on the samara wing collecting
the position and orientation information of the monocopter, by which the helical motion was
observed. Based on the blade apping equations of a helicopter rotor, two linear dynamic models
for the heave dynamics of a mechanical samara while hovering were identied by Ulrich et al.
Several prototypes were designed by Ulrich et al., and an approach for directional control
without requiring the once-per-revolution actuation or high frequency measurement of vehicle
orientation was proposed. In addition, the attitude determination for all-rotating unmanned aerial
vehicle such as mono- copter is studied by Matic et al.

Thus in the first step of experimental process of dynamic and aerodynamic design procedure
resulted to construction of initial prototype of monocopter. In the next steps the monocopter
flight control challenges was propounded. There are two important challenges in controlling of
monocopter; determination of heading angle at any instant and also control algorithm and timing
control inputs. In the next step for implementing and testing the control algorithm, a simple
hardware was designed for indicating the heading angle of monocopter trough the optic sensors
and a light source. Thereby the control algorithm and timing of applying control inputs were
implemented and tested with performing the several experimental tests and flight tests. And in
the final step the more advanced flying vehicle was constructed with some changes which
applied to aerodynamic design of flying vehicle (using the low Reynolds No. airfoil, winglet and
wing twist implementation) and with adding the AHRS as a fast compass to the system, the final
control system implemented and tested.

1.2 COMPONENTS
This air vehicle consists of one main wing, a flap and its servomotor, a fly-bar, a brushless motor,
motor speed control system, battery, flight computer system and motor strut. The motor strut in
this system causes the main masses to be farther than the center of gravity.

1.2.1 AIRFRAME

For building this Air-vehicle the Balsa wood and the carbon fiber spar have been used. Due to
effect of wind speed on the flying vehicle wing and flying vehicle dimension, the Low- Reynolds
No. airfoils have been employed. Due to the high relative length of wings and great difference of
linear speed between two wings and also for linearization of lift force along the wings, the 25
degrees of twist has been considered for the main wing in final design.

The setting of the center of gravity in this flying vehicle is an important and precise
factor. If the center of gravity of the system is further away from fly bar, the cone angle of flying
in the system will increase

1.2.2 POWER SOURCE

The integrated design of the air vehicle enables a simple power management scheme. Air
vehicle power is provided by a 730 mAh 11.1v lithium-polymer battery. Motor power, voltage
regulation, over-current cutoff, and low-voltage cutoff are all provided by a Thunderbird 6, 6-
amp brushless motor controller. Battery capacity permits flight times exceeding the 10 minute
mission time limit.
1.2.3 WING

The flapping mechanism in monocopter is very similar to the helicopter cyclic system. In some
systems such as helicopter, when the command is applied to one side of the flap, the system is
inclined to the opposite side.

Also, when the command to the left position is issued by the pilot to the radio control, the flap
command will be applied on the third quarter of trigonometric circle. The commands down and
right positions are also applied to the flap with the 270 degrees of phase difference.

1.2.4 AVIONICS

The hardware of the avionic system is composed of a MTi_G2 MEMS GPS aided AHRS for
measuring the attitude angles, heading and position of flying vehicle, a flight computer, an RC
radio control receiver and RF modem for monitoring and data acquisition.

The flight computer is constituted of SAM7256 ARM microcontroller and ATxmega64

microcontroller. The task of flight computer is the generation of control commands for flying
vehicle and the communication management among all systems. The control commands which
are applied by the pilot in the ATxmega64 microcontroller are received in the form of PWM
signals via the radio control in the flight computer. These commands are transmitted to the ARM
microcontroller. The ARM microcontroller receives the data such as attitude angles, heading and
the flying position from AHRS and GPS via a serial port. Then, considering the commands
which are applied by the pilot, appropriate control algorithms are performed by ARM
microcontroller. So, the PWM command required for servo-flap is calculated and generated in an
appropriate time. Finally, the required data for system monitoring in ATxmega64 microcontroller
is collected and then transmitted to the ground station via the short-range RF modem of 900
MHz with 38400 baud rate [Figure 1.3]
 Figure 1.2 The ground station

The ground station [Figure 1.2] is also composed of an RF modem, an interface circuit including
an ATxmega64 microcontroller and a personal computer (PC). The ATxmega64 microcontroller
is communicated with the avionic system via an RF modem and receives the flight information.
Then, it sends this data to the PC. In addition to data saving, the implemented software in the PC
can display some information visually by a GUI. This software was implemented in C#.net
programming environment which provides the possibility of data communications between the
user and the avionic system.

Figure 1.3 The schematic of system hardware

So the pilot applies the control commands for moving towards left and right or up and down and
commands for motor speed (Throttle) with radio control. The throttle command is applied
directly from radio control to the speed control system. The other commands are received by
flight computer in which appropriate control operations are performed considering these
commands.
 Chapter 2
PROPULSION & LIFT SYSTEM

Powered monocopters have a closely coupled propulsion and lift system. A monocopter flies by
rotating its wing through the air, producing lift. For monocopter, thrust is provided by a fan and
housing mated with a brushless electric motor [Figure 2.1]. This lift is then offset by the thrust
and gyroscopic forces incurred by spinning the various masses which comprise the vehicle.
When these forces are in equilibrium, the vehicle will rotate about the Z-axis perpendicular to the
ground and take flight.

Figure 2.1 Simplified forces and moments

2.1 AUTOROTATION
A fundamental principle of a monocopter, in powered flight, is that a monocopter rotor system
operates in autorotation. This means the rotor spins freely as a result of air flowing up through
the blades, rather than using engine power to turn the blades and draw air from above. Forces are
created during autorotation that keep the rotor blade turning, as well as creating lift to keep the
air vehicle aloft. Aerodynamically, the rotor blade of monocopter in normal flight operates like a
maple seed during an engine-out forward autorotative descent.

2.2 ROTOR FORCES

Monocopter is a unique type of rotorcraft. The monocopter is a member of a small subset of
rotorcraft called free rotors, in which the entire vehicle rotates, much like a maple (or,
generically, a samara) seed.
Unlike all other rotorcraft configurations, monocopters require no autopilot for a stable hover.
As an autonomous system, a monocopter configuration can achieve control over all six degrees
of freedom with only two actuators: an electric ducted fan (EDF) and a responsive control flap.
This configuration also reduces sensor requirements, as any fixed sensor on the vehicle becomes
a scanning sensor due to vehicle rotation. The mechanically simple design of the air vehicle
allows it to be stronger, lighter and more reliable than other configurations. The combination of
a low rotor speed due to the large disc area and a lightweight, resilient structure creates an air
vehicle that delivers very low impact forces, reducing the likelihood of damaging the vehicle or
anything it may strike.

2.2.1 LIFT

Each component of a monocopter interacts with the air to create forces and moments about the
vehicle CM. The wing is the only component that creates lift. The motor thrust may be controlled
by a feedback loop that regulates vehicle altitude.

2.2.2 DRAG

The motor thrust may be controlled by a feedback loop that regulates vehicle altitude. All other
components create drag only. To determine the net force and moment on the vehicle, the vehicle
can be discretized and the velocity of each point on the vehicle calculated using the current state.
Lift, drag, and moment coecients along the wing can be interpolated from XFOIL data using
the local angle of attack.

2.2.3 THRUST

The monocopter flies because there are forces acting upon the wing that cause it to rise as it
slices through the air.

1- The rocket motor creates thrust and it is this thrust that makes the monocopter spin.

2- As the rocket motor forces the wing to turn, the wing creates lift due to a partial airfoil
and the angle of the wing relative to the ground, much like a ceiling fan pushes the air
down to the floor.
3- The motor is also angled downward slightly and this also creates lift on the other end of
the wing.
 Chapter 3
PAYLOAD

The monocopter carries a sensor payload in addition to its ranging sensors. These payload
sensors include a reticle tracker to find the blue LED and a digital camera with flash to collect
desired images. This payload is integral to the air vehicle, and uses the air vehicles compass and
timing information to generate control signals which subsume the mother ships course selection
function. All data transmissions, including sensor status and collected imagery, are sent over the
existing vehicle digital data link.

3.1 SENSORS
Guidance, Navigation and Control Sensors: The only sensors used for navigation within the
building are Sharp infrared ranging modules. Two models are used: the GP2Y0A02YK0F for
altitude and short-range lateral sensing from 20 to 80 cm, and the GP2Y0A700K for long-range
lateral sensing between 60 and 550 cm. Both types use 880 nm infrared light to measure
distances by triangulation. (Sharp) Although these sensors are subject to errors from specular
reflections and attenuation, their modest weight and power consumption more than offset these
limitations. Reading the sensors at a high rate and from varying positions as the vehicle moves
also mitigate the limitations of IR triangulation sensing.

Mission Sensors: Mission sensors for the SamarEye system include the reticle tracker and a
small CMOS solid state camera designed for cell phone use. This was integrated with a custom
field programmable gate array (FPGA) to provide timing and buffering of the captured image.
Due to the vehicles constant motion, still pictures are taken with a short integration time,
requiring a high shutter speed. To ensure that sufficient light is available for a clear image, a
high-brightness LED is used as a flash to supplement the ambient light in the room. A timing
signal provided by the reticle tracker triggers the camera when the subject is in view. Sequential
images can be taken at the rate of vehicle rotation, typically four to five revolutions per second,
to provide trend data from the subject.

3.2 COMMUNICATIONS
The current digital datalink candidate for monocopter is comprised of a pair of RF modules.
These are 60 mW spread-spectrum transceivers, using the 802.15 protocol. Verification of noise
figures and potential processing gain is in progress.
3.3 POWER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The integrated design of the air vehicle enables a simple power management scheme. Air
vehicle power is provided by a 730 mAh 11.1v lithium-polymer battery. Motor power, voltage
regulation, over-current cutoff, and low-voltage cutoff.

Thunderbird 6, 6-amp brushless motor controller. Battery capacity permits flight times
exceeding the 10 minute mission time limit. A propeller with three or more blades is necessary to
eliminate excessive vibration due to varying propeller inertia about the monocopters vertical
axis of rotation.

The average battery power consumption of our 16 inch wingspan monocopter outside of ground
eect is 32 watts. This is measured by noting ight times in hover and the energy required to
recharge the battery. Note that the battery power consumption is 7.7 times the hover power
predicted in Figure 8, so only a fraction of the battery power is transmitted to the ow. The
remaining power is consumed by the avionics, marker LEDs, speed control losses, and motor
and propeller ineciencies.

We use a simple momentum theory (actuator disk) model to predict the induced ow through a
monocopter disk in hover. The model assumes that the instantaneous lift force acting on the
monocopter is due to a change in momentum of air passing through the disk, with the induced
ow velocity constant across the disk. This introduces four primary sources of error:

1. Radially non-uniform disk ow: the actual induced ow is radially non- uniform with higher
induced velocities at highly loaded blade sections.

2. Circumferentially non-uniform disk ow: in practice, when standing under a monocopter in

ight, we observe beats in the induced ow each time the blade passes overhead. Monocopters
have only one blade and generally operate at lower RPM than helicopter rotors, making the
assumption of constant ow across the disk area less applicable to monocopters than helicopters.

3. Swirl and tip losses: the blades introduce swirl into the ow. The blade tip generates no lift but
is subject to large prole drag.

4. Time lag: transient changes such as cyclic input, transition to forward ight, or throttle setting
changes, lead to a rst order lag in induced ow. The momentum theory model is more
applicable to predicting steady state performance than exact transient behavior.
 Chapter 4
GUIDANCE, NAVIGATION & CONTROL

Monocopter uses a hybrid strategy for guidance, navigation, and control. The lowest levels of
control reside on the air vehicle, while higher level functions reside on the mother ship, which
transmits commands over a digital data link. The primary sensors for navigation are three
infrared ranging modules, which are used to sense walls and other objects in the air vehicles
environment.

A single lateral sensor would be inadequate for most vehicles. However, the free-rotor
configuration of the air vehicle inherently applies a high-rate scanning motion to lateral sensors.
Reading the single sensor multiple times within a revolution creates the effect of an array of
virtual sensors. Each raw sensor reading is time stamped in relation to the digital compass timer,
effectively providing a reference vehicle orientation for each sensor reading.

4.1 STABILITY AUGMENTATION SYSTEM

The air vehicle requires very little stability augmentation, because of the static and dynamic
stability inherent to the free rotor configuration. A monocopters stability is derived from the
balance of gyroscopic and aerodynamic forces present in flight. Because of this inherent
stability, simpler control logic and slower controller speeds are required compared to quad rotors,
ducted fans and other common small Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) platforms.
Furthermore, this stability extends to the dynamic flight regime, simplifying non-hovering flight.
Control laws are utilized only in the altitude and throttle control subsystems. Both systems are
based on an onboard running average, which is then controlled using a Proportional-Integral-
Derivative (PID) control scheme which updates at approximately 10Hz.

4.2 NAVIGATION
The monocopter navigation poses three navigation problems: maneuvering from the mother ship
through the window, exploring the corridors of the building, and searching the walls of the rooms
within the building. The strategy used by the navigation system is based on the distributed
cognition approach. The high-level deliberative navigation functions reside in the mother ship,
only the reactive obstacle avoidance and target tracking functions are handled exclusively by the
air vehicle.

For the air vehicle to maneuver from the mother ship and enter the building, both the mother ship
and the air vehicle use sensing to identify the window. The mother ship includes a Sick LMS-
291 laser rangefinder (LRF) and a digital compass to identify the course to the window and
translate that course into a navigation solution for the air vehicle. Corrections to this course are
then made by the mother ship using LRF feedback to ensure ingress.

The air vehicle uses onboard IR rangefinders to sense walls and obstacles in the competition
environment. Depending on rotor speed and other processing requirements, these sensors are
read nine to sixteen times per revolution, effectively creating a radial array of virtual sensors.
The sensors are read into the microcontroller as voltages, and are time stamped against a period
reference. The Arduino then sends the sensor readings (voltage and time) over the data link to
the mother ship. At the same time, the onboard computer checks each reading for collision
threats. If a collision is imminent, a local reactive behavior subsumes global control
momentarily, maneuvering the vehicle away from danger.

The mother ship converts a series of sensor readings from each revolution (voltage and time) to
distance-angle. It then compares them against the current map using a Hough transform in the
vehicle position domain as described in Howell. A position match is indicated by a maximum in
the Hough voting array. The best match is selected as the vehicles current pose. Sensor readings
are transformed from that pose into the global coordinate frame, and are added to the global map.

A separate LabVIEW process looks at the global map, and abstracts it into 8 x 8 foot squares. (It
is known a priori that Ukrainistani architecture is based on 8 foot modules.) A modified depth-
first search algorithm selects the next unexplored square, generating a new air vehicle course. A
specialized payload sensor, a reticle tracker, scans for the blue LED. Once the LED is located,
an interrupt overrides the previously computed course, and the LED location is used as the basis
for navigation. As it homes on the LED, the Arduino compares the attraction vector with any
obstacle avoidance vectors. When the LED attraction and obstacle repulsion vectors reach
equilibrium, the air vehicle is as close as possible to the target. The digital camera then takes the
picture, completing the mission.

4.3 CONROLS METHODOLOGY EVOLUTION

The horizontal control of the Monocopter has proven to be the most difficult aspect of the entire
process. Without a fixed reference frame to its environment, a magnetic reference to Earths
magnetic field is used. As the vehicle is spinning at rates of up to approximately 600 rpm which
translates to 10 Hz, it is not within our capabilities for reasons, including size and budget, to have
a sensor accurate enough able to report the magnetic heading at this rate.

In order to achieve the cyclic control that allows for accurate horizontal translation, the system
must implement harmonic pitch control synchronized to the vehicle rate of rotation requiring
instantaneous headings during its rotation. A number of methods for achieving this have been
explored through three main test platforms.

A. First Generation Arduino Control System: The control system for the first generation
monocopter consisted of a 16 MHz Arduino Pro Mini microcontroller for all onboard
 processing. The Arduino based design was chosen due to the small and lightweight
nature of the Arduino and its easy to use integrated development environment. The
magnetic heading of the vehicle was sensed using a HMC1052L magneto restrictive
compass. The system used a 2.4 GHz module for sending commands to the vehicles
from a computer to ease the transition from manned to autonomous controls. The high
level system diagram can be seen in [Figure 4.1]. The central control mechanism for
the harmonic pitch control was created as an Interrupt Service Routine (ISR). In order
to simplify reading the instantaneous heading of the vehicle, the magnetometer
triggered the ISR whenever the heading passed by magnetic north. Using this data,
the system would extrapolate the approximate position of the vehicle.

Figure 4.1 Arduino system block diagram

B. Second Generation FPGA Control System: The secondary generation of the

monocopter changed the onboard processor from an Arduino to a Field
Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) board. The board chosen was the GODIL 48 I/O
FPGA module by OHO-Electronik. The board is based on the Xilinx Spartan 3E
FPGA with 500,000 logic gates. The boards low cost, light weight, and form factor
made it the optimal to use at the time. The analog HMC1052L was replaced with the
more recent digital Honeywell HMC5843 magnetometer for its price, size, and
available resources in the robotics community. This system solved many of the
problems introduced by the Arduino-based control system, but it still would lead to a
number of issues of its own.
C. Current FPGA Control System: The current generation of the monocopter uses an
Opal Kelly Spartan 3E FPGA module containing 1,200,000 logic gates and a 32 MB
SDRAM and 4MB SPI Flash. The module provided a 5-output programmable
onboard PLL with a top frequency of 150 MHz. A custom sensor board was created
for use with the FPGA board as seen in [Figure 4.2]
The magnetic reference necessary for the control of the vehicle is accomplished
through the use of a MicroMag3 3- axis magnetic sensor module. The MicroMag3
solved the slow update rate problem caused by the HMC5843 as the sensor is capable
of sensor readings of up to 175 KHz and a sample rate of up to 2000 samples a
minute. The module provides on board processing of Earths magnetic field in a 3-
axis plane from 3 separate analog signals. The module presents the data through a SPI
interface.

The control of the altitude is made through the use of a Bosch BMP085 MEMS
Pressure Sensor similar the original system. The sensor performs internal data
processing as well as provides pressure and temperature for external temperature
compensation. Communication is achieved through the I2C protocol for this sensor.

To keep track of the heading of the monocopter while compensating for delays in
reading the magnetometer, a heading state estimator is implemented through the use
of a simplified extended Kalman filter.

A hybrid FPGA-Microprocessor system has been implemented in order to take full

advantage of each individual system [Figure 4.2]. In order to achieve this system, a
full version of Xilinxs ISE Design Suite was used along with its Microblaze
Embedded Processor Embedded Development Kit (EDK). All low level external
communications are controlled by the embedded processor including sensor readings,
serial communications, and data interpretation. Verilog Hardware Description
Language (HDL) is used for all data processing. At the early stage of the development
of the current system, the directional and throttle inputs for the monocopter are
delivered through an off-the-shelf hobby RC Transmitter system. The pulse width
modulated (pwm) signals from the receiver are processed by the FPGA to determine
the requested direction. The directional commands sent to the vehicle are
implemented based on Earths magnetic field.

Figure 4.2 Sensor board and FPGA module

 Chapter 5
APPLICATIONS
AND FUTURE SCOPE

5.1 APPLICATIONS
Due to its full rotation, the theory of visual persistence that imparts a low-pass lter on
the motions observed by eyes and deceives the observer into seeing a time-aver- age
version of motion is fully operational and accessible on the platform of monocopter.
By making the center of mass outside the frame, the monocopter appears to be a mess of
faint blur as it spins, even undetectable to human when the spinning speed is fast enough.
Ideally, the visibility of the aircraft would be further reduced by coating the aircraft
camouage color.
With the extraordinary invisibility and 360 scanning capability, this type of monocopter
is suitable for application in the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) or
related missions.
The analysis of the basic parameters allows further consideration to monocopter design
and ultimately greater understanding towards asymmetric rotational and asymmetric
conventional flight.

5.2 FUTURE SCOPE

Unanswered questions about monocopter dynamics remain. To improve our
understanding of monocopter dynamics and stability we would like to perform a
theoretical analysis of the pitch dynamics, to examine how oscillations about the wing
axis inuence stability.
To make our stability analysis more useful and decoupled, we would like to write it in
terms of design variables, as opposed to aerodynamic variables.
Finally, we would like to understand what benets are derived from using an alternate
actuation scheme, such as an all- tilting wing, or a y bar.
To improve the azimuth estimation with the magnetometer, it may be possible to learn the
periodic sequence observed by the magnetometer, and determine throughout the
period. By decreasing the monocopters wingspan we can improve its ability to y in
small spaces, and by increasing the rotational frequency we can improve the control
bandwidth available to the pilot.
Struts with airfoil cross section would reduce prole power and therefore be a major
improvement. It may be possible to ease the pilot workload by including additional
 environmental sensors: an altimeter to provide feedback control of altitude, an optical
range nder to allow the vehicle to develop a map of its surroundings and avoid
obstacles, or an inclinometer at the vehicle CM to actively improve vehicle stability.
By including an onboard camera feed slaved to the azimuth estimate, we can take an
image once per revolution and transmit it to the pilot, allowing the pilot to y the vehicle
remotely. This would realize the function of the monocopter to act as a UAV surveillance
platform.
Blade element theory adapted to low Reynolds number with tip loss corrections allow
accurate modelling and prediction of small mono-wing lifting surfaces which can be used
to aid future analysis.
If span is kept constant (0.45m in this case study) and if AR is increased, rotational rate is
increased as less drag is generated. For higher AR to produce the same lift as lower AR at
the same rotational rate, must be increased accordingly which is similar to changing AR
in conventional flying wing design.
The lift distribution and majority of contributing lift resides at the tips of the monocopter
whilst the majority of lift would occur on the inboard for flying wings which poses an
optimization challenge.
Monocopters would benefit from increased thrust line incidence to reduce coning angle to
aid moment balance. Reduced coning angle virtually increases span and lifting area.
Large thrust line offsets in conventional flying wing would require larger control surface
deflections to balance the moment which increases trim drag.
 Chapter 6
CONCLUSION

A powered monocopter can y in a controlled, intentional path.

With proper selection of design parameters, a stable uncontrolled hover mode
exists.
In addition to hover, the monocopter is controllable in three axes at will,
exhibiting the dynamic freedom of a helicopter.
As with a helicopter, the coning angle of the monocopter necessitates cyclic
actuation of the aileron to maintain forward ight.
We have developed a basic theory of monocopter dynamics.

These lead us to conclude that a monocopter is a viable ight vehicle for con- strained
indoor spaces.

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