AUTONOMOUS FLYING OBJECT
G.KARTHIK
J.KARTHICK
Mail id: gkrthk.90@gmail.com
Ph: 9047888158, 9677151653
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to design an
Autonomous Flying Quad copter, which will be capable of
flying in a controlled manner. The principle behind the
working of this Quad copter is the principle of quad-rotor
flying objects. The motors used here is brushless dc motor
which makes the propellers rotate. The Quad copter will
lift itself off the ground and then use controlled flight
mechanism to fly across definite path and after executing
its task it will land. All this will be done by the copter
itself without using any external remote control device
i.e., it will be completely autonomous. Hence in this paper
we have included a microcontroller which will control the
copter. In the case of indoor usage of this robot it is not a
matter, but when it comes to the outdoor usage of this
quad copter there will be the wind which will affect the
movement of the copter. So for this purpose a GPS based
system will be used to give this plate form its navigation
abilities. Including GPS will solve our problems in flight
due to disturbance caused by winds as it has to reach our
desired coordinates. It should be able to move around
from one specified point to other in open environment up
to the accuracy constrained by the GPS device. A GPS
will be attached to the plate form which specifies the
coordinates of location where it will move.
So there is another job to program the GPS hardware
such that it directs the quad copter in the right direction.
Such robots are useful in a broad range of surveillance,
security, and military applications. So basically we are
going to design a microcontroller based embedded system
application.
I. INTRODUCTION
In this paper we will be designing an autonomous flying quad
copter, which will be capable of flying in a controlled
manner. It will lift itself off the ground and then use
controlled flight mechanism to fly across define path and
after executing its task it will land. All this will be done by
the copter itself without using any external remote control
device i.e., it will be completely autonomous. So basically we
are going to design a microcontroller based embedded system
application. The quad copter will be capable of flying
autonomously and will not require any human assistance.
A. Innovative Aspects
It’s functionality will be completely controlled by the
embedded system that is designed which will make use of
GPS (global positioning system) to obtain the desired
features.
The innovation in this autonomous flight feature is that
most of the currently designed and commercially available
systems need a remote control or some such controlling
mechanism and none is completely autonomous.
B. Controlled Flight
Quad rotors are classified as rotorcraft because their lift is
derived from four rotors. Each rotor produces both a thrust
and torque about its center of rotation, as well as a drag force
opposite to the vehicle's direction of flight. Control of vehicle
motion can be achieved by varying the speed of each rotor to
change the thrust and torque. If all rotors are spinning at the
same angular velocity, with rotors one and three rotating
clockwise and rotors two and four counter clockwise, the net
aerodynamic torque, and hence the angular acceleration
about the axis is exactly zero, which implies that the
stabilizing rotor of conventional helicopters is not needed.
II. PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
The Quad-rotor Flying Object (QFO) is a flying platform that
uses four rotors. Each of the four rotors delivers an
individually controllable amount of thrust. The rotors are
positioned at the corners of a square. Any two adjacent rotors
are contra-rotating.
The QFO in this case is small, electrically powered, and
controls individual rotor thrusts by varying the speed of
their electric motors, rather than blade-pitch. This allows for
the use of fixed-pitch propellers.
A. The QFO As A Helicopter
A QFO’s functionality is similar to that of a
conventional helicopter. It can hover and exhibit the same
basic motions. This QFO uses four simple fixed propellers in
place of the more complicated main rotor of a conventional
helicopter.
According to the limits imposed by momentum theory, servo motor construction speeds heat dissipation and reduces
QFOs can achieve the same efficiency as normal helicopters. rotor inertia.
There may or may not be other limitations that prevent this.

Some of the benefits of using BL DC motor

are:

• Internal Permanent Magnet (IPM) rotor design to

Like a conventional helicopter, the effects of
actuation on system outputs in the QFO are highly inter-
coupled. Furthermore, if rotor thrust is controlled by varying
rotor speed (as opposed to pitch), the rotational inertias of the
rotors introduce additional lag dynamics in pitch and roll.
This makes the QFO more difficult to control than a
conventional helicopter, necessitating more automatic
assistance.
The major components with which the AFO can be
designed are as follows:
Brushless D.C Motor
Microcontroller
GPS (Global Positioning System)
avoid the surface mount magnets disadvantaged.
• Patented rotor structure to have super low cogging
torque performance for IPM servomotor.
• No skewed slot on stator and rotor, it can increase
reliabilities and reduce product costs.
• Energy efficiency motor adopts the high magnetic
energy permanent magnet NdFeB to have high
power and torque density, and small size structure.
• Electrical commutation can perform low noise, low
EMI and no brush maintenance.
• Power and torque density are much higher than the
conventional motors.
• Without mechanical commutation, motor speed can
be over 10,000 rpm.
• The innovating structure has an excellent feature in
energy saving during heavy-load operation, and high
torque at low speed driving.

III. BRUSHLESS D.C MOTOR AND CONTROLLER:

Brushless dc servo motors resemble a dc shunt motor turned

inside out. Dc servo motors feature permanent magnets,
located on the rotor, or a wound rotor excited by dc voltage
through slip rings, requires that the flux created by the
current carrying conductors in the stator rotate around the
inside of the stator in order to achieve servo motor action.
The servo motor features a rotating field is obtained by
placing three stator windings around the interior of the stator
punching. The windings are then interconnected so that
introducing a three-phase excitation voltage to the three
stator windings (which are separated by 120 electrical • The high efficiency range is much wider
degrees) produces a rotating magnetic field. Brushless dc than conventional motors.
The speed of the motors can be controlled by using H-bridge
for all the 4 motors. Standard Servo motors are built with
NTC thermistor for motor temperature feedback. The speed
control of the BLDC motors can also be obtained by using
PWM techniques and also by using the controllers.
• The largest flash memory: 512 kByte
• One instruction per clock cycle execution
• The first cached processor allows execution from
RAM
• Full Speed Host/Dual Role and OTG USB
capabilities
• Real-time trace

The microcontroller is programmed such that it rotates the

rotor in the desired speed so as to attain the precision. If we
use this AFO indoor then we don’t need a GPS system for
tracking the direction. But for outdoor use direction is
important because of the wind factor so we have to use a
GPS module so as to get the copter in the correct direction.
Furthermore high precision can also be obtained by
interfacing the GPS module with the microcontroller.
BL DC Motor and Controller Selection In the case of using a GPS module the programming of the
So after understanding how BL DC motor works, we selected microcontroller is to be done in such a way that the BLDC
one of the available BL DC motors. motors run as per the directions obtained by the GPS.
The 10A controller we use with the motor generates This microcontroller is programmed to obtain the data from
the 3 phase sinusoidal signal required for the motor after the GPS system and accordingly the motor speed is
getting an input pulse. We select 11.1volt mode for the controlled for every motor separately. A UART is used to
controller by removing its 2/3 batteries connector. (Higher interface the GPS module with the microcontroller. Also the
voltage means higher rpm and maximum lift) Controller
needs to be started with a pulse of 1msec at 100Hz. It
generates 5 tones to indicate its initiation. After the startup
controller is ready to receive signal to start the motor. So a
signal of 1msec to 2msec is given to the controller and motor
starts rotating. 1msec pulse means the slowest rotation while
2msec pulse means maximum rotation. Current demand of
the motor also increases with the speed of the motor if the
propeller is attached to the motor. Without the propeller the
motor only draws a fixed amount of 1A current. At maximum
speed motor and the controller both operate at 10A. At this
huge amount of current motor and the controller both start to
heat up very fast and after about 10sec the controller
automatically switches the motor off. Controller also
switches the motor off if the motor tries to draw current
larger than 10A. So controller provides the protection to the
motor.

IV. MICROCONTROLLER
• The PIC architecture has a number of new features
including:
• The highest execution speed 80 MIPS
(90+ Dhrystone MIPS @ 80 MHz)
feedback from the four motors is obtained with which the V. GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS):
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S. space-based
global navigation satellite system. It provides reliable
positioning, navigation, and timing services to worldwide
users on a continuous basis in all weather, day and night,
anywhere on or near the Earth which has an unobstructed
view of four or more GPS satellites.
GPS is made up of three segments: Space, Control and User.

The Space Segment is composed of 24 to 32 satellites in

Medium Earth Orbit and also includes the boosters required
to launch them into orbit. The Control Segment is composed
of a Master Control Station, an Alternate Master Control
Station, and a host of dedicated and shared Ground Antennas
and Monitor Stations. The User Segment is composed of
hundreds of thousands of U.S. and allied military users of the
secure GPS Precise Positioning Service, and tens of millions
of civil, commercial and scientific users of the Standard
Positioning Service. GPS satellites broadcast signals from
space that GPS receivers use to provide three dimensional
location (latitude, longitude, and altitude) plus precise time.

There are four basic functions of GPS.

• Position and coordinates.

• The distance and direction between any two
waypoints, or a position and a waypoint.
• Travel progress reports.
• Accurate time measurement.
current position is calculated and accordingly the next
command is given. The block diagram of the PIC A. Calculation Of Position:
microcontroller is shown above.
The receiver utilizes the messages it receives to
determine the transit time of each message and computes the
distances to each satellite. These distances along with the
satellites' locations are used with the possible aid of
trilateration to compute the position of the receiver. This
position is then displayed, perhaps with a moving map
display or latitude and longitude; elevation information may
be included.
1. Go to: A direct path to a selected destination
(waypoint, city, address and etc.).
2. Track: A previous path of travel that has been stored
(logged) in the eTrex Legend. A track allows you to
repeat a path or return to our starting point on the
same path using the GPS Track Back feature.
3. Route: A path to a destination consisting of
intermediate stops along the way (waypoints, cities,
highway exists, points of interest, intersection, etc.).
The defining of waypoints is necessary to save the points Standard serial interfacing of microcontroller (TTL) with PC
from which we want our Autonomous flying object to pass or any RS232C Standard device requires TTL to RS232
through. Route is basically collection of waypoints. Level converter. A MAX232 is used for this purpose. It
The waypoint can be marked if we stay stick button of GPS provides 2-channel RS232C port and requires external 10uF
pressed for 2 seconds while it is showing your current capacitors. The driver requires a single supply of +5V.
location. We marked four waypoints in each corner of ground
near NBS, the next step is to arrange these waypoints in a
order in which we want to perform the Navigation. As we needed the serial port for both GPS as well as ISP,
therefore we use one DB9 connector in parallel to ISP as well
Now that the current heading of the airplane and the next as microcontroller using four DIP switches.
waypoint are known, we can discern which way and how
much the aircraft should turn in order to hit the next way D. Comparison Of Current And Waypoint Heading:
point. For example, the figure below shows one scenario
given the waypoint heading angle and the true course angle.
Intuitively, it is obvious that the aircraft should turn right to
head towards the next waypoint.

The easiest, but definitely least effective, way of coding this

algorithm is to say that if the aircraft heading is less than the
waypoint heading, turn right. Otherwise turn left. However,
this can be very inefficient in certain instances. For example,
if the waypoint is just to the left of the North direction and
you are heading a little right of North, the plane should turn
slightly left to hit the waypoint. However, with the above
algorithm the plane will get to the waypoint, but not before
flying in a complete circle (well almost). This scenario is
demonstrated in the graphic below

B. A Basic GPS Navigation Exercise:

The next step is to navigate our self through the Route

which we created. The navigation page shows the rotating
compass ring that shows our current course over ground and
a
bearing pointer indicates the direction in which we should
move to reach the nearest waypoint. The navigation page of
GPS is shown below.

We move from first waypoint to last waypoint and the

bearing pointer guided us in which direction we should go to
reach the next way point and finally the destination.

C. GPS Interfacing With Microcontroller:

To interface GPS with microcontroller, we have to

make RS-232 communication of GPS compatible with
microcontroller for which we need a level shifter as well as
inverter to convert the levels to TTL.
 After decoding the RMB and RMC messages we
have both true and next waypoint heading, hence the next
step is to compare these two heading and then decide whether
to turn right or left. We have to write a code for this purpose.
VI. SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
The whole system can be given by means of architecture
which will depict the components used. There is a controller
board and a driver board. The driver board is connected to
the BLDC motors, hence it controls the rotor movement. The
controller will give the commands to the driver board and it
will control the BLDC motors. The controller gets the data
from the GPS receiver system and also the feedback from the
motor and accordingly it will drive the driver circuit. The
speed and position commands are fed to the driver board.
The final model of the copter is as shown.
The schematic diagram is shown.
The copter as shown has four propellers. Each of these is
connected to an individual brushless D.C motor with the
shaft of the motor pointing upwards. The microcontroller
board is placed on the mica which forms the body of the
AFO.
Suppose if the copter is to be lifted then the controller
will give the command to the driver and the driver board will
make all the four rotors run in such a way that the opposite
rotors rotate in the same direction. Thus equilibrium is
achieved in this case and the copter will start to fly.
Now if the copter has to be moved to the right then the
thrust exerted by the propeller at the right should be less
compared to that of the left. Hence the program is done in
such a way that the speed of the motor in the right is less than
that of the left. By this way we can achieve the right
movement.
A. Achieving Balance And Motor Speed Control
Sum of all forces and torques should be zero for balance.
Centre of gravity below the aerodynamic centre of the craft
(through placing the batteries below the intersection of the
airframe), the inertia due to the mass of the batteries resists • Infrared detection
both pitch and roll. • Mine sweeping, scouting and preventive triggering
and path finding,
• Carrying of tactical equipment

D. Rescue Operations

• Dropping equipment: live vests, inflatable boats,

rescue lines over water, buildings or on mountains

E. Aerial Transports

• Bring loads to hard to reach places (behind enemy

lines, on top of buildings, across a river etc.)
• Geological and ecological surveys, treetops, forest
control, agricultural, pollution detection.
This is the equation for lift.

VII. APPLICATIONS
REFERENCES
• Such aircrafts are useful in a broad range of surveillance,
security, and military applications http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/eTrexLegend_Owners
• They can carry out complex missions from take off to Manual.pdf
landing completely autonomously. Aerial filming and
photography http://www.gps-practice-and-fun.com/gps-exercises.html
• Video (on board recording and wireless air to ground
recording) http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~weg22/gpsMagpie/gpsFix
• Feature movies, documentaries, animal. edWing.html

A. Engineering http://knr.pb.edu.pl/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=51:qaudrotor&c
• Nuclear radiation areas atid=28:projektywbudowie&Itemd=44
• Burn-off towers
• Railway http://www.verhagenx2.com/solutionsinfligh.html
• Power lines filming
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System
• Real estate sales, documenting development of
construction sites
http://sodoityourself.com/max232-serial-level-converter/
• Pipelines
• Off shore maintenance related control http://www.gpsinformation.org/dale/nmea.htm#RMB
• Underneath bridges
https://www.courses.psu.edu/aersp/aersp055_r81/satellit
B. Civil es/gps_details.html

• Traffic control
• Forest fire detection & control
• Avalanche monitoring

C. Military And Law Enforcement

• Border patrol, crowd and riot control,

http://aprs.gids.nl/nmea/

http://extremeelectronics.co.in/avr-tutorials/rs232-
communication-the-level-conversion/
http://www.weethet.nl/english/gps_garmin_etrex_to_rs2
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http://www.ikalogic.com/isp.php

http://www.freewebs.com/maheshwankhede/rs232.html

http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~weg22/gpsEmaxx/gpsEm
axx.html

http://www.kowoma.de/en/gps/positioning.htm

http://ufo.eterrorist.org/blog/ufo.got.net/blog/index.html#
motoresc