1. Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial
Flight System for Attitude Determination in
Autonomous Flights
Jimmy Rico1, Kamran Turkoglu2
1San Jose State University
jimmy.rico@sjsu.edu
2San Jose State University
kamran.turkoglu@sjsu.edu
AIAA SciTech Conference, January 5, 2016
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 1 / 21

2. Overview
1 Project Scope
2 Test Bed
3 Hardware
4 Software Design
5 Filters
6 System Identification
7 Feedback Design
8 Conclusion
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 2 / 21

3. Project Scope
Develop and assemble a fixed wing aircraft for attitude estimation in
autonomous flights
Low cost, off the shelf products
Develop a flight computer using the Arduino microcontroller
Identify the model dynamics and validate results
Apply feedback design using control methodologies
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 3 / 21

4. Autonomous Unmanned Aerial System Test Bed:
Ultrastick 25e
RC Model Aircraft
Static stability
Internal payload capabilities
Option between ailerons and
flaps or flaperons
Table 1 : Physical Properties of the
Aircraft
Property Symbol Value Units
Mass m 1.814 kg
Wing Span b 1.27 m
Wing Area S 0.31 m2
Mean AC c 0.25 m
Moment of Inertia Ix 0.0653 kg-m2
Moment of Inertia Iy 0.0819 kg-m2
Moment of Inertia Iz 0.1054 kg-m2
Figure 1 : Ultrastick 25e
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 4 / 21

5. Arduino Mega: Board Characterisitcs
Arduino Mega 2560
ATmega2560 Microcontroller
5V Operating Voltage
256 KB Flash Memory with 8
KB Memory of RAM
16 Mhz Clock speed
Arduino IDE
Easy to work with
Open source
Support from Arduino
Community
Figure 2 : Arduino Mega
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 5 / 21

6. Inertial Measurement Unit
L3GD20H 3-axis gyroscope sensor
LSM303 3-axis compass sensor
LSM303 3-axis accelerometer sensor
BMP180 barometric pressure and temperature sensor
Figure 3 : Adafruit 10 DOF IMU
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 6 / 21

7. GPS and Datalogger
Breakout Board with an update
rate of 1-10 Hz
Based off the MTK339 chipset
Can track 22 satellites on 66
channels
Figure 4 : Adafruit Ultimate GPS
Class 10 32gb MicroSD card
65 Mb/s write speed
Data stored at 72 Hz
Figure 5 : SD Breakout Board
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 7 / 21

8. Pitot Tube
MPXV7002DP (Airspeed sensor kit)
Differential presssure sensor
Designed for micro-controller-based systems
Easily integrated through analog input
Work in conjuction with BMP180 for accurate readings
Figure 6 : Airspeed Sensor Kit
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 8 / 21

9. Battery Eliminator Circuit and Electronic Speed Controller
ESC converts PWM signal to a readable value the motor understands
Castle Creations 10 Amp BEC-Supply Arduino with 7V
Avionics system powered by 3300mAh 3-Cell/3S battery pack
Servos require a separate 4x1.5V/2400mAh NiMH battery pack
Figure 7 : ESC and BEC
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 9 / 21

10. Expenses
Off the shelf products
Readily available
Low cost
Table 2 : Total cost of the UAS set-up integration
Hardware Product Cost [USD]
RC Model Ultrastick 25e 169.99
Motor Power25 69.99
Servos 6 JR Sport M-48 167.94
Electronic Speed Controller 40A Brushless ESC 54.99
Reciever AR7010 7 Channel DSMX 89.99
Propeller Thin Elec. Prop 12x6E 3.95
Microcontroller Mega 2560 45.95
IMU 10 DOF IMU 29.95
GPS Ultimate GPS 39.95
Data Logger Sparkfun Micro SD 9.99
Pitot Tube Airspeed Sensor Kit 24.95
Total 672.70
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 10 / 21

11. Flight Computer Design and Integration
10-DOF:
SCL
SDA
GPS
SD
CS
DI
DO
SCK
Flaps & Aileron
Elevator, Throttle & Rudder
Figure 8 : Flight Computer
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 11 / 21

12. Software: Arduino IDE
PWM
Controls and Receiver
Interrupt Service Routine
I2C
IMU
Serial
GPS
SPI
Datalogger
Figure 9 : Flight Computer
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 12 / 21

13. Filtering Techniques and Estimation
Theorem (Complementary Filter)
θ = α(θk−1 + wk δt) + (1 − α)θaccel,k
Theorem (Kalman Filter1
)
xk+1 = Fk xk + Gu,k uk + Gv,k vk
yk = Hk xk + Dk uk + ek
Qk = Cov(vk )
Rk = Cov(ek )
e = x − ˆx
1
Theorem (Extended Kalman Filter2
)
xk+1 = f (xk , uk , vk )
yk = h(xk , uk , ek )
xk+1 = f (xk , uk ) + vk
yk = h(xk , uk ) + ek
2
1
Nipanjana Patra et al. “Kalman filter based optimal control approach for attitude control of a missile”. In: Computer
Communication and Informatics (ICCCI), 2013 International Conference on. IEEE. 2013, pp. 1–4.
2
Abhijit G Kallapur and Sreenatha G Anavatti. “UAV linear and nonlinear estimation using extended Kalman filter”. In:
International Conference on Computational Intelligence for Modelling Control and Automation. IEEE. 2006, p. 250.
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 13 / 21

14. Filter Comparisons
Figure 10 : Top: Roll Angle, Bottom: Pitch Angle
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 14 / 21

15. System Identification:Open Loop Analysis
Frequency sweep
analysis: 0.01-15Hz
for 10 seconds
Automated chirp
signal
Excite frequency
dynamics
Extract data to
CIFER
Fit transfer
functions
Obtain coherence
plots
Figure 11 : Rudder automated chirp analysis
3
3
Mark B Tischler and Robert K Remple. “Aircraft and rotorcraft system identification”. In: AIAA Education Series (2006).
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 15 / 21

16. CIFER Analysis
Values of 1 are perfect
Values above 0.6 are acceptable
Figure 12 : Yaw Rate Coherence in CIFER
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 16 / 21

17. Transfer Functions
Rudder to Roll Rate
r(s)
ζ(s) = e−τ3s −37.733(s+7.706)(s2+0.54s+0.81)
(s+12.34)(s+0.019)(s2+6.906s+35.32)
Elevator to Pitch Rate
q(s)
η(s) = e−τ1s −51.415s(s+10.4)(s+0.1)
(s2+0.384s+0.16)(s2+27.24s+282.6)
Aileron to Roll Rate
p(s)
ξ(s) = e−τ2s 115.73s(s2+6.262s+19.45)
(s+12.34)(s+0.019)(s2+6.906s+35.32)
where the associated time delay-(τ) values are τ1 = 0.07, τ2 = 0.08
and τ3 = 0.06, respectively.
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 17 / 21

18. Validation
Figure 13 : 7◦
Doublet Response
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 18 / 21

19. Control System Design: PID Results
Figure 14 : Closed loop response
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 19 / 21

20. Conclusion and Future Work
Successfully assembled and intgrated all modules
Developed a novel code for easy integration of contol design
Performed frequency sweep analysis for system identification
Validated transfer functions to represent aircraft dynamics
Improve coherence plots of the remaining states
Develop a full blown state space
Figure 15 : Flight
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 20 / 21

21. Questions?
Jimmy Rico and Kamran Turkoglu (SJSU) Arduino Based Low-Cost Experimental Unmanned Aerial Flight System for Attitude DetermJanuary 5, 2016 21 / 21