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Adaptive Controller Development and Evaluation for a 6DOF Controllable Multirotor

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dc.contributor.authorFurgiuele, Theresa Chung Waien
dc.contributor.committeechairBlack, Jonathan T.en
dc.contributor.committeememberLeonessa, Alexanderen
dc.contributor.committeememberWoolsey, Craig A.en
dc.contributor.committeememberSchroeder, Kevin Kenten
dc.contributor.committeememberRoss, Shane D.en
dc.contributor.departmentAerospace and Ocean Engineeringen
dc.date.accessioned2022-10-04T08:00:21Zen
dc.date.available2022-10-04T08:00:21Zen
dc.date.issued2022-10-03en
dc.description.abstractThe omnicopter is a small unmanned aerial vehicle capable of executing decoupled translational and rotational motion (six degree of freedom, 6DOF, motion). The development of controllers for various 6DOF controllable multirotors has been much more limited than development for quadrotors, which makes selecting a controller for a 6DOF multirotor difficult. The omnicopter is subject to various uncertainties and disturbances from hardware changes, structural dynamics, and airflow, making adaptive controllers particularly interesting to investigate. The goal of this research is to design and evaluate the performance of various position and attitude controller combinations for the omnicopter, specifically focusing on adaptive controllers. Simulations are first used to compare combinations of three position controllers, PID, model reference adaptive control, augmented model reference adaptive control (aMRAC), and four attitude controllers, PI/feedback linearization (PIFL), augmented model reference adaptive control, backstepping, and adaptive backstepping (aBack). For the simulations, the omnicopter is commanded to point at and track a stationary aim point as it travels along a $C^0$ continuous trajectory and a trajectory that is $C^1$ continuous. The controllers are stressed by random disturbances and the addition of an unaccounted for suspended mass. The augmented model reference adaptive controller for position control paired with the adaptive backstepping controller for attitude control is shown to be the best controller combination for tracking various trajectories while subject to disturbances. Based on the simulation results, the PID/PIFL and aMRAC/aBack controllers are selected to be compared during three different flight tests. The first flight test is on a $C^1$ continuous trajectory while the omnicopter is commanded to point at and track a stationary aim point. The second flight test is a hover with an unmodeled added weight, and the third is a circular trajectory with a broken blade. As with the simulation results, the adaptive controller is shown to yield better performance than the nonadaptive controller for all scenarios, particularly for position tracking. With an added weight or a broken propeller, the adaptive attitude controller struggles to return to level flight, but is capable of maintaining steady flight when the nonadaptive controller tends to fail. Finally, while model reference adaptive controllers are shown to be effective, their nonlinearity can make them difficult to tune and certify via standard certification methods, such as gain and phase margin. A method for using time delay margin estimates, a potential certification metric, to tune the adaptive parameter tuning gain matrix is shown to be useful when applied to an augmented MRAC controller for a quadrotor.en
dc.description.abstractgeneralThe omnicopter is a small unmanned aerial vehicle capable of executing decoupled translational and rotational motion. The development of controllers for these types of vehicles has been limited, making controller selection difficult. The omnicopter is subject to variations in hardware and airflow, making adaptive controllers particularly interesting to investigate. The goal of this research is to design and compare the performance of various position and attitude controller combinations for the omnicopter, specifically focusing on adaptive controllers. Simulations are first used to compare combinations of several position and attitude controllers on various trajectories and disturbances. Simulation results showed that a fully adaptive controller combination produced the best trajectory tracking while subject to disturbances. As with the simulation results, flight tests showed the adaptive controller yields better performance than the nonadaptive controller for all scenarios, particularly for position tracking. Finally, while the adaptive position controller was shown to be effective, it is difficult to tune and certify for widespread use. A method for using time delay margin estimates, a potential certification metric, to tune the adaptive controller is shown to be useful when applied to an adaptive controller for a quadrotor.en
dc.description.degreeDoctor of Philosophyen
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:35645en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/112064en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectadaptive controlen
dc.subjectmodel reference adaptive controlen
dc.subjectadaptive backstepping controlen
dc.subjectUAV/UASen
dc.subjectomnicopteren
dc.subject6DOF controllable multirotoren
dc.subjectquadcopteren
dc.subjecttime delay margin estimationen
dc.subjectcontrol tuningen
dc.subjectmatrix measureen
dc.subjectbounded linear stability analysisen
dc.subjectPixhawen
dc.titleAdaptive Controller Development and Evaluation for a 6DOF Controllable Multirotoren
dc.typeDissertationen
thesis.degree.disciplineAerospace Engineeringen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen

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