Project Report on

WIRELESS CONTROL QUADCOPTER

by
Ayush Gautam (1109732032)
Mukul Kapoor (1109732067)
Prateek Gautam (1109732076)

Submitted to the Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering

in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

Bachelor of Technology
in

Electronics and Instrumentation

Under the guidance of

Ms. Kriti

Galgotias College of Engineering and Technology

U.P.T.U
April , 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE ............................................................................................................................. 5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................ 6
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 7
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................... 8
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 9-14
1.1

Background of the Problem ........................................................................................ 10

1.2

Objective of the project work...................................................................................... 11

1.3

Methodology Adopted for the project ........................................................................ 12

1.4

Organization of the report ........................................................................................... 14

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................. 15-18

2.1

Literature Review For The Project ............................................................................ 15

2.2

Project scope in existing work ..................................................................................... 18

CHAPTER 3 QUADCOPTER ............................................................................................. 19-41

3.1

Block diagram of quad-copter .................................................................................... 20

3.2

Block diagram of transmitter ...................................................................................... 21

3.3

Block diagram of Receiver End .................................................................................. 22

3.4

Components of quad-copter ........................................................................................ 24

3.5

Flight control ................................................................................................................ 35

3.6

Application of quad-copter.......................................................................................... 39
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3.7

Advantages of Quad-copters ....................................................................................... 40

CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE .......................................................... 42

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF MICROCONTROLLER .............................................................. 43
CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF WIRELESS CONTROLLER ...................................................... 44
APPENDIX A ACCEPTANCE OF PAPER PUBLISHED .................................................... 45
APPENDIX B BIOGRAPHY OF STUDENT .......................................................................... 47
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 53

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Flow Chart of Quad-copter design ................................................................................ 12
Figure 2. Result of 3-DOF attitude control .................................................................................. 15
Figure 3. Altitude control of Quad-copter .................................................................................... 16
Figure 4. de Bothezat helicopter ................................................................................................... 17
Figure 5. Quad-copter designs ...................................................................................................... 19
Figure 6. Block diagram of quad-copter ....................................................................................... 20
Figure 7. Block diagram of transmitter ......................................................................................... 21
Figure 8. Block diagram of receiver end ...................................................................................... 22
Figure 9. Flight control mechanism .............................................................................................. 23
Figure 10. Motor to motor distance .............................................................................................. 25
Figure 11. Brushless Motor.......................................................................................................... 26
Figure 12. Motor Used in quad-copter .......................................................................................... 27
Figure 13. Battery used in our quad-copter .................................................................................. 28
Figure 14. Electronic speed controller (ESC) ............................................................................... 29
Figure 15. Propeller ...................................................................................................................... 30
Figure 16. Radio transmitter and receiver..................................................................................... 31
Figure 17. Flight controller used in the project............................................................................. 32
Figure 18. Microcontroller used in project ................................................................................... 35
Figure 19. Flight control ............................................................................................................... 36
Figure 20. Different motions of quad-copter ................................................................................ 37
Figure 21. Applications of quad-copter ........................................................................................ 41
Figure 22. Circuit Diagram of Microcontroller ............................................................................ 43

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Project Report entitled WIRELESS CONTROL QUADCOPTER which
is submitted by AYUSH GAUTAM, MUKUL KAPOOR and PRATEEK GAUTAM in partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the award of degree B. Tech. in Department of Electronics and
Instrumentation of U.P. Technical University, is a record of the candidate own work carried out
by him under my/our supervision. The matter embodied in this thesis is original and has not been
submitted for the award of any other degree.

(Name & signature of Supervisor)

(Name & signature of Project Incharge)

(Name & signature of Project Coordinator)

(Name & signature of HOD)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It gives us a great sense of pleasure to present the report of the B. Tech Project undertaken during B.
Tech. Final Year. We owe special debt of gratitude to our supervisor or project guide Ms. KRITI,
Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, Galgotias College of Engineering &
Technology for her constant support and guidance throughout the course of our work. Her sincerity,
thoroughness and perseverance have been a constant source of inspiration for us. It is only her cognizant
efforts that our endeavors have seen light of the day.
Our deep sense of gratitude is accorded to Associate Professor & Head Dr. Praveen Maduri, Head, and
Department of EIE for his constant official support, encouragement and motivation for our project work.
We wish to express our sincere thanks to our Project Incharge Ms Jaspreet Kaur, Mr Hridesh Verma, Mr
Manjit Singh and Mr Gulshan Kumar Dubey for the enthusiasm they transmitted, for their competence, as
well as for the richness of their guidelines and invaluable suggestions throughout the project.
We also do not like to miss the opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of all faculty members and
lab-Instructors of the department for their kind assistance and cooperation during the development of our
project. Last but not the least, we acknowledge our friends for their contribution in the completion of the
project.

Signature with date

[AYUSH GAUTAM, 119732032]

Signature with date

[MUKUL KAPOOR, 119732064]

Signature with date

[PRATEEK GAUTAM, 119732076]

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ABSTRACT
This research focused on a remotely operated Quad copter system. The Quad copter is controlled
through graphical user interface (GUI). Communication between GUI and Quad copter is done
by using wireless communication system.

All signals from sensors are processed by PIC

microcontroller board. Output from PIC microcontroller board used to control Quad copter
propellers. The experiment shows that Quad copter can hover with maintain its balancing and
stability. They are called rotorcrafts because unlike a fixed wing aircraft, here lift is generated by
narrow chord aero foils. They are the mixture of streams of mechanical, electronics and
especially aviation.
Keywords- Quad copter, Quad rotor, GUI, Rotorcrafts.
Quad copters is an aerial vehicle operated to fly independently and is one of the
representations of a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). They are controlled by pilots on ground
or simultaneously driven. They are called rotorcrafts because unlike a fixed wing aircraft, here
lift is generated by a set of revolving narrow-chord aero foils. Control of motion of
vehicle is achieved by altering the rotation rate of one or motor discs, thereby changing
its torque load and thrust/lift characteristics. The use of four rotors in a quad copter allow
the individual rotors to have a smaller diameter than the equivalent helicopter rotor,
which allows them to possess less kinetic energy during flight.
Quad copters have different structures and designs according to the work needed to be
Done by it. Components like motors, batteries, electronic speed controllers (ESC s) also vary
according to the power needed and work done by the quad copter.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

PWM

Pulse width modulation

RC

Remote Control

UAV

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

VTOL

Vertical takeoff and landing

DOF

Degree of Freedom

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

Quad copter, also known as quad rotor, is a helicopter with four rotors. The rotors are directed
upwards and they are placed in a square formation with equal distance from the center of mass of
the quad copter. The quad copter is controlled by adjusting the angular velocities of the rotors
which are spun by electric motors. Quad-copter is a typical design for small unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAV) because of the simple structure. Quad copters are used in surveillance, search
and rescue, construction inspections and several other applications the particular interest of the
research community in the quad-rotors design can be linked to two main advantages over
comparable vertical take o and landing (VTOL) UAVs, such as helicopters.

Early in the history of flight, quad-copter (referred to as 'quad-rotor') configurations were seen
as possible solutions to some of the persistent problems in vertical flight; torque-induced control
issues (as well as efficiency issues originating from the tail rotor, which generates no useful lift)
can be eliminated by counter-rotation and the relatively short blades are much easier to construct.
A number of manned designs appeared in the 1920s and 1930s. These vehicles were among the
first successful heavier-than-air vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicles.

The Netra is an Indian, light-weight autonomous UAV for surveillance and reconnaissance
operations.

It

has

DEVELOPMENT

been

jointly

developed

ORGANISATION'S

by

the DEFENCE

RESEARCH

AND

RESEARCH

AND

DEVELOPMENT

ESTABLISHMENT (R&DE), and IDEAFORGE, a Mumbai-based private firm. The UAV was
featured in the hit movie 3 Idiots.

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1.1

Background of the Problem

The idea of quad-copters is due to many problems faced even in day-to-day routine. Some of the
problems faced are as per below:
1)

Avalanche in the mountains:

While avalanches are sudden, the warning signs are always there before the snow starts sliding.
Avalanches kill more than 150 people worldwide each year. Most are snowmobilers, skiers, and
snowboarders. So quad-copters are used for keeping an eye of sudden avalanche and rescuing the
humane life.
2)

Surveillance

Quad-copters have been used as unmanned aerial vehicles for reconnaissance and surveillance by
several law enforcement agencies and military. Not only that, but their ability to carry decent
payloads make them ideal choice for recreational fliers, as users can attach cameras for first
person views or aerial photography. This allows the users to fly these multi-rotors as if they are
sitting inside the craft like a pilot.
3)

Aerial imagery

The most common commercial use of quad-rotors is in the field of aerial imagery. Previously,
full-sized helicopters were used for stationary aerial imagery. However, in recent times quadrotor drones have successfully replaced helicopters due to their huge cost savings and
autonomous nature. The process of capturing aerial imagery with a quad-rotor is highly simple.
Therefore, it is used in various commercial environments ranging from industrial systems
inspection to real estate photography.

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1.2

Objective of the project work

The control system of conventional helicopter is complex as compared to the proposed quadcopter control system.
The objectives of this project are:
i.

To design quad-copter that can control be controlled via remote control (RC)

ii.

To design quad-copter for stable flight control which is controlled by PIC micro-controller

iii.

To create an autonomous system that increases situational awareness of security personnel

by providing them with a birds-eye view.

iv.

To make a quad rotor assembly that can hover and perform certain pre-defined maneuvers
and can lift weight up to 1 kg. These maneuvers will be controlled by an onboard
microcontroller. The microcontroller will drive the motors using Pulse Width Modulation
(PWM).

v.

The project introduces an alternate and simple rotor assembly system for conventional load
carrying helicopters.

vi.

Besides, in the proposed design every rotor plays a role in direction control and balance of
the quad-copter as well as lift, unlike the traditional single rotor helicopter designs in
which each rotor has a specific task - lift or directional control - but never both.

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1.3

Methodology Adopted for the project

The methodology for the project can be better understood by dividing into two phases. The first
phase is understanding the quad-copter structure and it basic mathematical modeling. The second
phase deals with design and construction of the quad-copter. It will be built by splitting the
design into different component whereby each component will be tested to ensure its working
properly. This step is to minimize the risk of accidents which will lead to increasing number of
component cost.
i.

Flow chart

Designs of quad-copter are divided into two stages that is part design in first stage and full
interface at second stage. Flow chart of quad-copter design is described in Figure below:

Figure 1. Flow Chart of Quad-copter design

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ii.

Quad-copter movement mechanism

Quad-copter can described as a small vehicle with four propellers attached to rotor located at the
cross frame. This aim for fixed pitch rotors are used to control the vehicle motion. The speeds of
these four rotors are independent. By independent, pitch, roll and yaw attitude of the vehicle can
be control easily.
iii.

Take-off and landing motion mechanism

Take-off is movement of quad-copter that lift up from ground to hover position and landing
position is versa of take-off position. Take-off (landing) motion is control by increasing
(decreasing) speed of four rotors simultaneously which means changing the vertical motion.
iv.

Hovering or static position

The hovering or static position of quad-copter is done by two pairs of rotors are rotating in
clockwise and counter-clockwise respectively with same speed. By two rotors rotating in
clockwise and counter-clockwise position, the total sum of reaction torque is zero and this
allowed quad-copter in hovering position.

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1.4

Organization of the report

The quad-copter report is organized as per below:

i.

The idea behind the development of quad-copter has been described

ii.

The background of the problems faced which lead to development of quad-copter has
been described

iii.

The purpose and objective of the quad-copter has been defined

iv.

Then, the methodology adopted for the creating the quad-copter has been described
briefly.

v.

The literature for the development of quad-copter has been researched and review as per
early developments done in the same field.

vi.

After research of literature and the development of the quad-copter further, scopes left
in the project are listed.

vii.

Now, the design of quad-copter will be defined using block of transmitter, block
diagram of receiver and components of quad-copter

viii.

Then flight control process has been described

ix.

In brief the application of quad-copter has been enlisted

x.

Few advantages of quad-copter has been enlisted

xi.

Then conclusion and future scope of quad-copter has been conversed

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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Literature Review For The Project

In order to run Wireless Control Quad-copter with Self Balancing System research, several
theoretical and techniques needed to be reviewed through previous related research report. The
review includes the technology development and control method that are used in Quad-copter.

Park et.al. (2001) studied on the 3-DOF attitude control free-flying vehicle. The characteristic to
be heavily coupled with inputs and outputs, and the serious nonlinearity appear in the flying
vehicle and due to this non-linear control, multi variable control or optimal control for the
attitude control of flying Quad copter. This research result is illustrated in Figure

Figure 2. Result of 3-DOF attitude control

Ashfaq Ahmad Mian et.al. (2007) developed of nonlinear model and nonlinear control strategy
for a 6-DOF Quad copter aerial robot. The nonlinear model of Quad copter aerial robot is based
on Newton-Euler formalism. Model derivation comprises determining equations of motion of the
Quad copter in three dimensions and seeking to approximate actuation forces through modelling

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of the aerodynamic coefficients and electric motor dynamics. The respective of the applied
control is described in Figure below

Figure 3. Altitude control of Quad-copter

The Netra is a lightweight UAV, constructed of carbon fiber composites, that uses quadcopters to provide lift and control giving a VTOL capability. It has no moving parts other than
the rotors, motors and transmissions, and hence it requires very low maintenance. The use of
carbon-fiber has resulted in a light weight of 1.5 kg (3 lb.), which makes the Netra very
portable a backpack case allows operators to carry the system to field locations to serve as the
base station. It also contains the power supply, military-grade controller, hand-held operator
console and the communication systems.

Dr. George de Bothezat and Ivan Jerome developed this aircraft, with six bladed rotors at the end
of an X-shaped structure. Two small propellers with variable pitch were used for thrust and yaw
control. The vehicle used collective pitch control. Built by the US Air Service, it made its first
flight in October 1922. About 100 flights were made by the end of 1923. The highest it ever
reached was about 5 m (16 ft 5 in). Although demonstrating feasibility, it was underpowered,
unresponsive, mechanically complex and susceptible to reliability problems. Pilot workload was
too high during hover to attempt lateral motion

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Figure 4. de Bothezat helicopter

Since as early as 1920, multi-copter vehicles have been designed, built, and used to experiment
with aerial vehicle designs. The quad-rotor or quad-copter design is one example of the many
prototypes produced. This particular design uses four identical rotors mounted symmetrically;
the result is a very stable flight platform. The goal of this project is to use the stable aerial Quadcopter design for practical uses.
Etienne Oehmichen experimented with rotorcraft designs in the 1920s. Among the six designs he
tried, his helicopter No.2 had four rotors and eight propellers, all driven by a single engine. The
Oehmichen No.2 used a steel-tube frame, with two-bladed rotors at the ends of the four arms.
The angle of these blades could be varied by warping. Five of the propellers, spinning in the
horizontal plane, stabilized the machine laterally. Another propeller was mounted at the nose for
steering. The remaining pair of propellers were for forward propulsion. The aircraft exhibited a
considerable degree of stability and controllability for its time, and made more than a thousand
test flights during the middle 1920s. By 1923 it was able to remain airborne for several minutes
at a time, and on April 14, 1924 it established the first-ever FAI distance record for helicopters of
360 m (390 yd). It demonstrated the ability to complete a circular course and and later, it
completed the first 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) closed-circuit flight by a rotorcraft.

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2.2 Project scope in existing work

The quad-copter project aims to make specific advances in three major research areas:
User-centered Human Machine Interface and Training
Automation
Socio-technological assessment.
The University of Nebraskas NIMBUS Lab has developed unmanned quad-copters that
can fly around and wirelessly transmit power to devices. Ostensibly these have the rather
unromantic purpose of recharging remote sensors weather stations, highway
monitoring/messaging systems, and other similar, unattended electronic devices but it
also means that, in the future, you might be able to call out a quad-copter to recharge your
mobile phone.
Optional components such as GPS (Global Positioning System) modules, cameras,
ultrasonic sensors, barometers (barometric pressure sensors) etc. can be considered. They
enhance the performance of the quad-copter, and add value to its uses. GPS modules
communicate to satellites and retrieve accurate relevant information. This information can
be used to calculate speed and path. It is very useful for autonomous quad-copters that
need to know its exact position and which direction to fly.
An ultrasonic sensor measures the distance to the ground or the altitude. It is of great use if
the quad-copter has to maintain a certain distance from the ground without adjusting the
height. Most of these sensors have a range of between 20cm to 7m.It needs to be mounted
at the bottom of the quad-copter. The barometer measures humidity and pressure and
works best at high altitudes.

The best altitude combination will be to use both an

Ultrasonic sensor and a Barometric pressure sensor at the same time.

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CHAPTER 3
QUADCOPTER

Figure 5. Quad-copter designs

A quad-copter, also called a quad-rotor helicopter or quad-rotor is a multi-rotor helicopter that is

lifted and propelled by four rotors. Quad-copters are classified as rotorcraft, as opposed to fixedwing aircraft, because their lift is generated by a set of rotors (vertically oriented propellers).
Unlike most helicopters, quad-copters use two sets of identical fixed pitched propellers; two
clockwise (CW) and two counter-clockwise (CCW). These use variation of RPM to control lift
and torque. Control of vehicle motion is achieved by altering the rotation rate of one or more
rotor discs, thereby changing its torque load and thrust/lift characteristics.

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3.1 Block diagram of quad-copter

Figure 6. Block diagram of quad-copter

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3.2 Block diagram of transmitter

keypad

RF encoder

433 MHz
RF transmitter

Figure 7. Block diagram of transmitter

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3.3 Block diagram of Receiver End

433 MH

RF DECODER

PIC
MOTOR DRIVER

Motor 1

Motor 2

Motor
3

Motor4

Figure 8. Block diagram of receiver end

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Figure 9. Flight control mechanism

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3.4 Components of quad-copter

The main components used for construction of a quad-copter are the frame, propellers (either
fixed-pitch or variable-pitch), and the electric motors. For best performance and simplest control
algorithms, the motors and propellers should be placed equidistant. Recently, carbon fiber
composites have become popular due to their light weight and structural stiffness. The electrical
components needed to construct a working quad-copter are similar to those needed for a modern
RC helicopter, which include the electronic speed control module, on-board computer or
controller board, and battery.
The components are elaborately described as follows:
i.

Frame:

It is the structure that holds or houses all the components together. They are designed to be
strong and lightweight. To decide the appropriate frame for the copter 3 factors, i.e. weight, size
and materials used are considered.

The frame should be rigid and able to minimize the

vibrations from the motors. It consists of 2-3 parts which are not necessarily of the same
material:
The center plate where the electronics are mounted
four arms mounted to the center plate
four motor brackets connecting the motors to the end of the arms
Strong, light and sensible configuration including a built-in power distribution board (PDB) that
allows for a clean and easy build is highly recommended. Parts and accessories that are 100%
compatible and interchangeable are always preferred.
Frames are usually made of:
Carbon Fiber
Carbon fiber is the most rigid and vibration absorbent but it is the most expensive too.
Aluminum
Hollow aluminum square rails are the most popular for the arms due to its light weight,
rigidness and affordability. However aluminum can suffer from motor vibrations, as the
damping effect is not as good as carbon fiber. In cases of severe vibration problem, it could
mess up sensor readings.

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Wood/ Plywood /MDF (Medium-density fiberboard)

Wood boards like MDF plates could be used for the arms as they are better at absorbing the
vibrations than aluminum. Unfortunately the wood is not a very rigid material and can
break easily if the quad-copter crashes.
For the center plate, plywood is most commonly used because of its light weight, easy to work
factor and good vibration absorbing features. As for arm length, motor-to-motor distance is
sometimes used, meaning the distance between the centers of one motor to that of another motor
of the same arm. The motor to motor distance usually depends on the diameter of the propellers
in order to have enough space between the propellers.

Figure 10. Motor to motor distance

ii.

Rotors or Motors :

The purpose of motors is to spin the propellers. Brushless DC motors provide the necessary
thrust to propel the craft. Each rotor needs to be controlled separately by a speed controller.
They are a bit similar to normal DC motors in the way that coils and magnets are used to drive
the shaft. Though the brushless motors do not have a brush on the shaft which takes care of
switching the power direction in the coils, and thats why they are called brushless. Instead the
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brushless motors have three coils on the inner (center) of the motor, which is fixed to the
mounting.

Figure 11. Brushless Motor

On the outer side, it contains a number of magnets mounted to a cylinder that is attached to the
rotating shaft. So the coils are fixed which means wires can go directly to them and therefore
there is no need for a brush. Brushless motors spin in much higher speed and use less power at
the same speed than DC motors. Also they dont lose power in the brush-transition like the DC
motors do, so its more energy efficient. The KV (kilovolts)-rating in a motor indicates how
many RPMs (Revolutions per minute) the motor will do if provided with x-number of volts. The
higher the kV rating is, faster the motor spins at a constant voltage. Usually out runners are used
brushless motors used for model planes and copters.

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Figure 12. Motor Used in quad-copter

Generally brushless motors spin in much higher speed and use less power at the same speed than
DC motors. Also brushless motors dont lose power in the brush-transition like the DC motors
do, so its more energy efficient.
Brushless motors come in many different varieties, where the size and the current consumption
differ. When selecting your brushless motor you should take care of the weight, the size, which
kind of propeller you are going to use, so everything matches up with the current
consumption. When looking for the brushless motors you should notice the specifications,
especially the Kv-rating.
The Kv-rating indicates how many RPMs (Revolutions per minute) the motor will do if provided
with x-number of volts. The RPMs can be calculated in this way: RPM= Kv*U An easy way to
calculate rating of motor you need.

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iii.

Battery or power source

LiPo (Lithium Polymer) batteries are used because it is light. NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) is
also possible. They are cheaper, butt heavier than LiPo. LiPo batteries also have a C rating and a
power rating in mAh (which stands for milliamps per hour). The C rating describes the rate at
which power can be drawn from the battery, and the power rating describes how much power the
battery can supply. Larger batteries

weigh more so there is always a tradeoff between flight

duration and total weight.

Figure 13. Battery used in our quad-copter

A good rule of thumb is that you with four EPP1045 propellers and four Kv=1000 rated motor
will get the number of minutes of full throttle flight time as the same number of amp-hours in
your battery capacity. This means that if you have a 4000mAh battery, you will get around 4
minutes of full throttle flight time though with a 1KG total weight you will get around 16
minutes of hover.

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iv.

Electronic Speed controller (ESC)

The electronic speed controller controls the speed of the motor or tells the motors how fast to
spin at a given time. For a quad-copter, ESCs are needed, one connected to each motor. The
ESCs are then connected directly to the battery through either a wiring harness or power
distribution board. Many ESCs come with a built in battery eliminator circuit (BEC), which
allows to power things like the flight control board and radio receiver without connecting them
directly to the battery. Because the motors on a quad-copter must all spin at precise speeds to
achieve accurate flight, the ESC is very important. This firmware in a ESC changes the refresh
rate of the ESC so the motors get many more instructions per second from the ESC, thus have
greater control over the quad-copters behavior. The frequency of the signals also vary a lot, but
for a quad-copter it is preferred if the controller supports high enough frequency signal, so the
motor speed can be adjusted quick enough for optimal stability.

Figure 14. Electronic speed controller (ESC)

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v.

Propellers

A quad-copter has four propellers, two normal propellers that spin counterclockwise, and two
pusher propellers that spin clockwise to avoid body spinning. By making the propeller pairs
spin in each direction, but also having opposite tilting, all of them will provide lifting thrust
without spinning in the same direction. This makes it possible for the copter to stabilize the yaw
rotation, which is the rotation around itself. The propellers come in different diameters and
pitches (tilting effect). The larger diameter and pitch is, the more thrust the propeller can
generate. It also requires more power to drive it, but it will be able to lift more weight. When
using high RPM (Revolutions per minute) motors, the smaller or mid-sized propellers. When
using low RPM motors the larger propellers can be used as there could be trouble with the small
ones not being able to lift the quad-copter at low speed.

Figure 15. Propeller

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vi.

Radio Transmitter and Receiver :

The radio transmitter and receiver allows to control the quad-copter. Four channels for a basic
quad-copter is required .Using a radio with 8 channels, so there is more flexibility is
recommended. Quad-copters can be programmed and controlled in many different ways but the
most common ones are by RC transmitter in either Rate (acrobatic) or Stable mode. The
difference is the way the controller board interprets the orientations feedback together with the
RC transmitter joysticks. This is useful when the quad-copter is required to do stunts like tilting
it a bit to the right. The speed of the 4 motors will be adjusted automatically and constantly to
keep the quad-copter balanced.

Figure 16. Radio transmitter and receiver

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vii.

Flight controller

The flight control board is regarded as the brain of the quad-copter. Flight control boards
range from simple to highly complex.

An affordable, easy to set up, having a strong

functionality controller is always recommended. Such controllers can handle about any type of
multi-rotor aircraft so if even we want to upgrade to a hex copter or experiment with a tricopter,
we need not purchase another board.

Figure 17. Flight controller used in the project

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viii. Microcontroller
PIC16F877 belongs to a class of 8-bit microcontrollers of RISC architecture. It has 8kb flash
memory for storing a written program. Since memory made in FLASH technology can be
programmed and cleared more than once, it makes this microcontroller suitable for device
development. IT has data memory that needs to be saved when there is no supply. It is usually
used for storing important data that must not be lost if power supply suddenly stops. For
instance, one such data is an assigned temperature in temperature regulators. If during a loss of
power supply this data was lost, we would have to make the adjustment once again upon return
of supply.
RISC architecture

Only 35 instructions to learn

All single-cycle instructions except branches

Operating frequency 0-20 MHz

Precision internal oscillator
o

Factory calibrated

Software selectable frequency range of 8MHz to 31KHz

Power supply voltage 2.0-5.5V

o

Consumption: 220uA (2.0V, 4MHz), 11uA (2.0 V, 32 KHz) 50nA (stand-by

mode)

Power-Saving Sleep Mode

Brown-out Reset (BOR) with software control option
35 input/output pins
o

High current source/sink for direct LED drive

software and individually programmable pull-up resistor

Interrupt-on-Change pin

8K ROM memory in FLASH technology

o

Chip can be reprogrammed up to 100.000 times

In-Circuit Serial Programming Option

o

Chip can be programmed even embedded in the target device

256 bytes EEPROM memory

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Data can be written more than 1.000.000 times

368 bytes RAM memory

A/D converter:
o

14-channels

10-bit resolution

3 independent timers/counters
Watch-dog timer
Analogue comparator module with
o

Two analogue comparators

Fixed voltage reference (0.6V)

Programmable on-chip voltage reference

PWM output steering control

Eight level deep hardware stack
Power-on Reset (POR)
Power-up Timer (PWRT) and
Oscillator Start-up Timer (OST)
Programmable code protection
Watchdog Timer (WDT) with its own on-chip RC oscillator for reliable operation
Direct, indirect and relative addressing modes
Interrupt capability (up to 14 sources)
Enhanced USART module
o

Supports RS-485, RS-232 and LIN2.0

Auto-Baud Detect

Master Synchronous Serial Port (MSSP)

o

supports SPI and I2C mode

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Figure 18. Microcontroller used in project

3.5 Flight control

The flight control in quad-copters work is based on the principle that each rotor produces
thrust and torque about its center of rotation, as well as a drag opposite to the vehicle's
direction of flight. If all rotors spin at the same angular velocity, with rotors marked 1 and 3
rotating clockwise and rotors marked 2 and 4 counterclockwise, the net aerodynamic torque, and
subsequently the angular acceleration about the yaw axis, is exactly zero, which implies that the
yaw stabilizing rotor of conventional helicopters is not needed. Yaw is induced by mismatching
the balance in aerodynamic torques (i.e., by offsetting the cumulative thrust commands between
the counter-rotating blade pairs).
The 4 rotors aligned take the shape of a square, two on opposite sides of the square rotate in
clockwise direction and the other two rotate in the opposite direction. If all rotors turn in the
same direction, the craft would spin just like the regular helicopter without the tail rotor. Yaw is
induced by unbalanced aerodynamic torques. The aerodynamic torque of the first rotors pair
cancelled out with the torque created by the second pair which rotates in the opposite direction.
Hence if all four rotors apply equal thrust the quad-copter will stay in the same direction.
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Figure 19. Flight control

For balance, the quad-copter should continuously take the required measurements from the
sensors, and make alterations to the speed of each rotor to maintain the body level. These
adjustments usually are done automatically by a sophisticated control system on the quad copter
in order to stay perfectly balanced. A quad copter has four controllable degrees of freedom,
namely: Yaw, Roll, Pitch, and Altitude.

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Figure 20. Different motions of quad-copter

For hovering a balance of forces is needed. If we want the quad-copter to hover, SUM(Fi) must
be equal mg. To move the quad-copter climb/decline the speed of every motor is
increased/decreased.

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Figure 20: Hovering motion

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3.6 Application of quad-copter

Quad-copters have variety of applications in the field of research, military and many more.
Quad-copter designs have become a cynosure as to most research fields as they are an important
concept of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). They use an electronic control system and electronic
sensors to stabilize the aircraft. Their small size and agile maneuverability prove a great strength
to these quad-copters and they can be flown indoors as well as outdoors.
Some of their applications include:
1) 3-D Mapping
Small and lightweight drones help in surveying large landscapes with thousands of digital
images that can be stitched together into a string of 3-D maps. Though military and
other government satellites produce similar maps, but the stupendous outcomes of UAV
technology outshines them repeatedly.
2) Search and Rescue
Drones are a widespread application to rescue patients during injury or any calamity, manmade
or natural. Drones have the ability to help assist, locate and save victims, faster with more
efficiency than any other option.

There are campaign missions to provide a string

product line of Search and Rescue (SAR) drones. Advanced technology is used to create
drones that can reach people in small spaces and supply food, water and medicine to
trapped victims. Many advances like water-resistance, high definition GPS tracker and
cameras in quad-copters prove a great benefactor especially in the search and rescue aim.
3) Farming
In agriculture technology helps in great precision to monitor fields, increase yields and also save
money. Moreover, drones also help precise applications of pesticides, water, or fertilizers by
identifying exactly where such resources are needed and delivering them there too. Cameras
in drones are able to spot nitrogen levels (low or high) or watch the growth of a particular
section. Infrared light cameras inform about plant health by measuring the efficiency of
photosynthesis in various plants. These infrared cameras also detect which land is suitable for
appropriate growth of which plant.

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3.7 Advantages of Quad-copters

The main merit of quad-copters and similar unmanned aerial vehicles is their small size, due to
which they could traverse in narrow conditions.
The use of drones has tremendously grown in a short span of time owing to the long
flying time in contrast to the manned aircrafts. Without a human pilot, drones can operate for
significantly longer without fatigue than airplanes. Moreover, drone operators can easily hand
off controls of a drone without any operational downtime. They are remote controlled, so
no danger will be there to the crew. They contain a whole lot of widespread applications, in
day to day lives, domestic purposes and national to international purposes.
Some more of their advantages include:
i.

Does not require mechanical linkages to change the pitch angle at the blade as it spins.

ii.

Four small rotors have smaller diameter than one large helicopter rotor.

iii.

Takes less damage to rotors.

iv.

No need for a tail rotor which generates no lift.

v.

Easier to build four small blades compared to large one.

vi.

Due to ease in construction and control, they are used in amateur model aircrafts
project.

vii.

They can traverse through difficult terrains because of their small size and there is less
risk of damage too.

viii.

They can save lives. They greatly reduce putting military manpower in combat (in
harm).

ix.

They are significantly cheaper and the cost in fuel and maintenance is way lower than
regular airplanes.

x.

Quad-copters are smaller and are able to fly lower than traditional airplanes and the risk
level to military hardware is comparatively low.

xi.

Drones increase surveillance, reconnaissance, and general military intelligence.

xii.

Drones contain more pinpoint precision and accuracy from larger distances, which in
turn reduce the collateral damage to civilians and infrastructure.

xiii.

Drones are easier and faster to deploy than most alternative

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Figure 21. Applications of quad-copter

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CHAPTER 4
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE

Drones will soon take on be an imperative existence in the coming future. They will be
seen taking up larger roles for a variety of jobs including business in the immediate future They
could become a part of our daily lives, from smallest details like delivering groceries to
changing the way farmers manage their crops to revolutionizing private security, or
maybe even aerial advertising. Today, quad copters are capturing news video, recording
vacation travel logs, filming movies, providing disaster relief, surveying real estate and
delivering packages.
They are categorized according to their corresponding uses. Some are for military purposes
provided with missiles and bombs, some for surveillance and reconnaissance purposes.
Agriculture is predicted to be the dominant market for UAV operations. In Japan drones
are flown for the past 20 years. Lot of the farmlands over there are on steep hillsides, and those
vehicles can treat an acre in five minutes which is very difficult or even impossible to do
so with a tractor.
The innumerable advantages of drones lead to their growth in a short span of time.
They have a few demerits but those can be rectified. Today most drones are controlled by
either software or other computer programs. The components of a drone also vary based on
what type of work needs to be done and how much payload needs to be carried.
Out runners, batteries, electronic speed controllers all come in different ranges according
to the type of work needed to be done by the Quad copters are a great provisional craft that
could get in between airplanes and helicopters and are hence easier to fly all the time.
Beside real-time 3Dflight, such as inverted flight, quad copters give a more acrobatic feel to
its flyers. Quad copters offers to be a great balance between cost , capability, and
performance. The only problem is when funds are coupled with highly ambitious projects. A
solution for this could be to gradually improvise on inventing quad copters with new
enhancements and new designs. Hence quad copters have an exemplarily bright future.
The onus lies upon us whether we productively use it or destructively use it.
42 | P a g e

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF MICROCONTROLLER

Figure 22. Circuit Diagram of Microcontroller

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CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF WIRELESS CONTROLLER

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APPENDIX A
ACCEPTANCE OF PAPER PUBLISHED

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46 | P a g e

APPENDIX B
BIOGRAPHY OF STUDENT

I am student of Galgoatia College of engineering and technology, pursuing Bachelor of

technology in Electronics and Instrumentation for the session 2011-2015. My interests include
reading and exploring new technologies. I am avid follower of new emergencies in the
technology. I started working on quad-copter project due my inquisitiveness for this subject area.
There are many areas wherein human interference can be reduced and proper utilization of
technology can be performed. Also there are many terrains wherein human interference is just
not possible. For such reasons, a quad copter can be of great help. Along with this I prefer
travelling and knowing new places and people.

AYUSH GAUTAM
Roll No 1109732032
Session 2011-15

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RESEARCH PAPER
WIRELESS CONTROL QUADCOPTER SELF-BALANCING SYSTEM
Ms.Kriti1, Ayush Gautam2, Prateek Gautam3, Mukul Kapoor4
1
Assistant Professor
2
Student
Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering
Galgotias College of Engineering and Technology, Gr .Noida
1
tripathikriti@gmail.com
2
erayush.gautam09@gmail.com
3
muks27kapoor@gmail.com
ABSTRACT: This research focused on a
remotely operated Quad copter system.
The Quad copter is controlled through
graphical
user
interface
(GUI).
Communication between GUI and Quad
copter is done by using wireless
communication system. All signals from
sensors
are
processed
by
PIC
microcontroller board. Output from PIC
microcontroller board used to control
Quad copter propellers.
The experiment shows that Quad copter
can hover with maintain its balancing and
stability. They are called rotorcrafts
because unlike a fixed wing aircraft, here
lift is generated by narrow chord aero
foils. They are the mixture of streams of
mechanical, electronics and especially
aviation .
Keywords- Quadcopter, QuadRotor,GUI,
Rotorcrafts.
I. INTRODUCTION
Quad copter, also known as quad rotor, is a
helicopter with four rotors. The rotors are
directed upwards and they are placed in a
square formation with equal distance from
the center of mass of the quad copter. The
quad copter is controlled by adjusting the
angular velocities of the rotors which are

spun by electric motors. Quadcopter is a

typical design for small unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAV) because of the simple
structure. quad copters are used in
surveillance, search and rescue, construction
inspections and several other applications.
Quadcopter has received considerable
attention from researchers as the complex
Phenomena of the quad copter has generated
several areas of interest. The basic
dynamical model of the quad copter is the
starting point for all of the studies but more
complex aerodynamic properties has been
introduced as well. Different control
methods has been researched, including PID
controllers . Control methods require
accurate information from the position and
attitude measurements performed with a
gyroscope , an accelerometer, and other
measuring devices, such as GPS, and sonar
and laser sensors . The purpose of this paper
is to present the basics of quad copter
modeling and control as to form a basis for
further research and development in the
area. This is pursued with two aims. The
first aim is to study the mathematical model
of the quad copter dynamics. The second
aim is to develop proper methods for
stabilization and trajectory control of the
quad copter. The challenge in controlling a
quad copter is that the quad copter has six
48 | P a g e

degrees of freedom but there are only four

control inputs.
II. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
The quad rotor helicopter used in this
project is a Draganyer X-Pro (X-Pro). It
differs from traditional helicopters regarding
the design as it has 4 horizontal rotors and
no vertical rotors. Traditional helicopters
can adjust the angle of the rotor blades as
well in order to control the helicopter, but on
the X-Pro the blades have a static angle. The
only variable that can be adjusted in right is
the rotational speed of the rotors.
The reason for this is to aid the development
of a model and controllers for the X-Pro,
without the risk of flying into the wall. This
will of course give reduce the movements of
the X-Pro.

Fig.1 Whole structure of rotations in quadcopter

The Design
The X-Pro consists of a base in the center
and 4 arms equally spaced in a shape of a
cross. The motors are mounted on the end of
the arms and connected to the rotors using 1
to 10 gearing. The base of the X-Pro is the
joint between the 4 arms and contains a
battery and the remote control (R/C)
electronics. The basic structure of the X-Pro
can be seen in figure. The X-pro has two
motors working in the same direction in ths
case 4 and 2 rotating anticlockwise whereas,
the other two motors 1 and 3 rotated in
opposite direction to the other motors that is
4 and 2 making the X-pro rotates stable and
vigorous!

III.TECHNIQUE USED
A Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Signal is
a method for generating an analog signal
using a digital source. A PWM signal
consists of two main components that define
its behavior: a duty cycle and a frequency.
The duty cycle describes the amount of time
the signal is in a high (on) state as a
percentage of the total time of it takes to
complete one cycle. The frequency
determines how fast the PWM completes a
49 | P a g e

cycle (i.e. 1000 Hz would be 1000 cycles

per second), and therefore how fast it
switches between high and low states.
Technique used in the movement of the
quad copter is PWM(Pulse Width
Modulation
)
.
pulse-duration
modulation (PWM), it is a technique used
to encode a message into a pulsing signal. It
is a type of modulation. Although this
modulation technique can be used to encode
information for transmission, its main use is
to allow the control of the power supplied to
electrical devices, especially to inertial loads
such as motors. In addition, PWM is one of
the two principal algorithms used
in photovoltaic solar battery chargers, The
PWM switching frequency has to be much
higher than what would affect the load (the
device that uses the power), which is to say
that the resultant waveform perceived by the
load must be as smooth as possible .The
major advantage of using PWM in the
quadcopter is that power loss in the
switching devices is very low. When a
switch is off there is practically no current,
and when it is on and power is being
transferred to the load, there is almost no
voltage drop across the switch. Power loss,
being the product of voltage and current, is
thus in both cases close to zero. PWM also
works well with digital controls, which,
because of their on/off nature, can easily set

the needed duty cycle. PWM can be used to

control the amount of power delivered to a
load without incurring the losses that would
result from linear power delivery by
resistive means.
IV .CONCLUSION
While the initial goal of creating an
autonomous quadcopter capable of sensing
obstacles was not reached in ten weeks, our
group still learned a substantial amount
about robot design, fabrication, control, and
arduino programming. We used the spring
test rig to determine the motor and propeller
thrust for various PWM signals. We used
this information for quadcopter frame down
selection and control. We learned important
soldering and electric system fabrication
skills including making a power harness and
digital to analog motor control. Our group
all became proficient arduino programmers
by necessity as it was the most complex part
and required a group effort. In these ten
weeks we succeeded in stabilizing the
quadcopter in two degrees of freedom. The
end of the project is bittersweet. We are
proud of our accomplishments, but wish that
there were more time to improve the
quadcopter. With another ten weeks we
would further fine tune the stability and add
code to handle yaw and translation in the
XYZ-axes

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CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF MICROCONTROLLER USED

IN THE QUAD COPTER

The circuit shows how the PIC microcontroller is used to control the electronic speed
controllers(ESCs) which control the speed of the motor which in turn controls speed of the
propellers of the quad copter.

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CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF THE WIRELESS

CONTROLLER

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REFERENCES
References & websites were used as a medium to obtain information for this project:

1.

http://blog.oscarliang.net/types-of-multicopter/ - Posted on Oct. 25 2013.

2.

http://blog.oscarliang.net/build-a-quadcopter-beginners-tutorial-1/- Posted on June 25

2013.

3.

http://blog.tkjelectronics.dk/2012/03/quadcopters-how-to-get started/#battery Posted on

March 27 2012.

4.

http://www.fox42kptm.com/story/27451289/imagination-tv-partners-withdrones-to-therescue-to-provide-emergency-situation-relief - Posted on November 21 2014.

5.

www.slideshare.net

6.

http://www.philforhumanity.com/Drones.html

7.

www.farmingdrones.com

8.

www.abcnews.com

9.

G. M. Hoffmann, H. Huang, S. L. Waslander, and C. J. Tomlin, Quadrotor helicopter

flight dynamics and control: Theory and experiment, Proceedings of the AIAA Guidance,
Navigation and Control Conference and Exhibit, Aug.2007.

10.

H. Huang, G. M. Hoffmann, S. L. Waslander, and C. J. Tomlin, Aerodynamics and

control of autonomous quadrotor helicopters in aggressive maneuvering,
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11.

IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 32773282, May 2009.

12.

A. Tayebi and S. McGilvray, Attitude stabilization of a four-rotor aerial robot, 43rd

IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, vol. 2, pp. 12161221, 2004.

13.

I. C. Dikmen, A. Arsoy, and H. Temeltas, Attitude control of a quadrotor, 4th

International Conference on Recent Advances in Space Technologies, pp. 722727, 2009.

14.

Z. Zuo, Trajectory tracking control design with command-filtered compensation for a

quadrotor, IET Control Theory Appl., vol. 4, no. 11, pp. 23432355, 2010.

15.

S. Bouabdallah, A. Noth, and R. Siegwart, PID vs LQ control techniques applied to an

indoor micro quadrotor, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and
Systems, vol. 3, pp. 24512456, 2004.

16.

T. Madani and A. Benallegue, Backstepping control for a quadrotor helicopter,

IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 32553260,
2006. Systems and Automation Society, 2006

17.

K. M. Zemalache, L. Beji, and H. Marref, Control of an under-actuated system:

Application to a four rotors rotorcraft, IEEE International Conference on Robotic and
Biomimetics, pp. 404409, 2005.

18.

G. V. Raffo, M. G. Ortega, and F. R. Rubio, An integral predictive/nonlinear

19.

P. Castillo, R. Lozano, and A. Dzul, Stabilisation of a mini rotorcraft with four rotors,
IEEE Control Systems Magazine, pp. 4555, Dec. 2005.

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