Propulsion and Energy

management
Propeller System
• Pro – Before ; Peller – Drive.
• Central part of UAVs which generates
thrust to control and hover the UAVs in
air.
• Converts electric energy into mechanical
energy using motor propellers to fly
UAVs.
• Motor: Brushless DC motor.
- Electric Motor: Converts electricity
to motion for propulsion
- ESC: Regulates motor speed and
power
- Energy Management System
(EMS): Efficiently manages power
sources
- Power Source: Supplies electrical
energy to the motor
• Motor Models / Types:
- Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM)
- Brush commutated motor
- Brushless DC motor (BLDC)
- Sensored / Sensorless
 Help all power sources connect
in a common DC bus Generate the
All power sources and storage required Thrust
devices are connected

Fixed Pitch propeller

ESC: Contains bridge inverter circuits and

microprocessor-based speed controller.
PWM : Pulse Width Modulation
EMS: Regulates energy consumption from power sources within the - Help to trigger power electronics
UAV’s operating regions. switches of the bridge inverter and
provide controlled power injection
- Requires voltage and currents from power sources and the into the motor
common DC buses to decide the power contribution of sources and
storage devices at different operating conditions
Fixed Pitch Propellers
• The propeller generates thrust and torque to control UAVs using 2 or
more blades connected by a central hub that attaches the blades to
the motor shaft.
• Output torque decides the motor efficiency and depends on speed,
size, type and other propeller features.
• A suitable combination of propeller and motor is necessary through
proper modelling of both the components to ensure that the motor
operates with high efficiency to guarantee less consumption of power
for the same thrust and increased flight time.
Formula
• Modelling of a fixed pitch propeller in terms of Thrust (F) and Torque
(T) is given by
F = CF ρ n 2 D 4 (N - Newton)

T = CT ρ n2 D5 (Nm – Newton Meter)

where CF and CT are the non-dimensional thrust and torque coefficients respectively;
• ρ is the air density;
• n is the propeller's rotational speed;
• D is the propeller's diameter.
Problem
Consider a fixed-pitch propeller with the following characteristics:
• Diameter (D) = 2 meters
• Number of Blades (Z) = 3
• Blade Area Ratio (EAR) = 0.4
• Pitch Ratio (P/D) = 0.8
• Fluid Density (ρ) = 1.225 kg/m³ (for air at sea level)
• Rotational Speed (n) = 1000 RPM
• CF ≈ 0.08 & CT ≈ 0.015
• Convert RPM to RPS: Convert rotational speed from RPM to
revolutions per second (RPS)
n = 1000 RPM / 60 = 16.67 RPS
• Calculate Thrust (F):
F = CF * ρ * n² * D⁴
= 0.08 * 1.225 kg/m³ * (16.67 RPS)² * (2 m)⁴ ≈ 235.6 N.
• Calculate Torque (T):
T = CT * ρ * n² * D⁵
= 0.015 * 1.225 kg/m³ * (16.67 RPS)² * (2 m)⁵ ≈ 52.6 Nm
Motor
Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) Motor
• Stator : Static
• Rotator : Rotate
 Generates PWM signal
to trigger 6 power
electronic switches

Isolate the control

circuits from the power
circuits to protect the
Generates ref. speed signals low-voltage control
based on the control circuit Bridge inverter
algorithm as supplied to the Provide proper electronic communication to the motor
microcontroller unit
Battery
• Less storage capacity
• Required to recharge the delayed battery through direct contact /
wireless charging
• Techniques: Swapping, Dumping, Charging thro’ laser beam, Charging
thro’ tethered
Swapping
Battery swapping in UAVs can be
- Hot swapping (replacing a drained battery with a charged
one while the UAV remains operational to minimize
downtime)
- Cold swapping (landing the UAV to replace the entire
aircraft or its drained battery, causing more service
interruption).
- Both methods require a ground station with charged
batteries but differ in when the UAV is powered down, with
hot swapping being more ideal for continuous missions but
often requiring human assistance and posing risks to battery
health.
Hot Swapping Cold Swapping
• Process: The UAV lands and has its drained •Process: The UAV lands and is replaced with
battery replaced by a fully charged one another fully charged UAV, or the drained
without shutting down the aircraft. battery is replaced while the drone is powered
down.
• Benefit: Allows the UAV to resume
•Limitation: Involves more service interruption
operations with minimal downtime.
and requires a larger number of spare UAVs if
• Limitation: swapping the entire aircraft.
• Often requires human assistance to
swap batteries.
• Using the hot-swap feature repeatedly
can reduce battery life and flight time.
• Systems can be autonomous to support
persistent, continuous missions.
Challenges in propulsion system
• Selection of control techniques for an electric motor (leads to low
efficiency and endurance)
• High design complexity
• Battery and improper charging procedures shorten the battery life
• Battery management: Planning, Scheduling, Replacing a battery to
complete a given mission
• Operation in adverse weather
Multicopter Flight
Control Model
Multicopter Flight
Components:
➢ Structure - Frame (holds all the physical components)
➢ Power – Battery
➢ Power distribution – PCB
➢Actuation – BLDC motor
➢Drivers – ESC
➢Sensors – Navigation sensor, Payload sensor,..
➢Communication
➢Flight Controller
 Control System

Control Algo. Applies force/moment All physical components

based on the input signal with mass & moment

Measures output of the process

Variables
• Configuration variable: Min. set of variables required to fully describe the
system at any given time.
• State variable: Min. set of variables required to fully describe the system at
any given time and also requires predicting the future behavior of the
system when subjected to the input.

Configuration variable: Position (X)

State Variable : Position & Speed
Fundamentals of System theory
Cases:
1. Analysis

2. Synthesis

3. System identification

For eg., F = m x a
Fundamentals of Control System
1. Performance – How well does the system obey the commands
given by the user?
2. Stability – Does the system obey the commands given by the user?
3. DoF – Min. number of coordinates.
- Point constrained to move on a line – ---- DoF
- Point constrained to move on a Plane – ---- DoF
- Rigid body constrained to move on a Plane - --- DoF
- Rigid body moving on a 3D space - ---- DoF
4. Under & Over actuation – No. of actuator < No. of DoF
- Not all DoF are actuated even if the no. of
actuators is equal to > no. of DoF
Eg) Quadcopter, Hexacopter, Octocopter

5. Controllability – The input state of the system can be changed from

any initial state to any final state in a finite time interval. The controller
despite being underactuated and unstable.

6. Observability – If the current state of the system can be determined

based on the output measurable and inputs to the system for a finite
time is estimated.
7. Control allocation – Process of allocating control action to the available
actuators.
Eg., Control allocation for hexacopter.
6 Thrust (F1, … F6) & Torque (T1, … T6)

Position and attitude control refers to the simultaneous control of a

vehicle's (drone) spatial location and its orientation in space.

Types of position & attitude control:

1. Set point control
2. Trajectory tracking
3. Path following
• Position and attitude control involves maintaining a desired position
while also stabilizing and controlling its rotation around three axes
(roll, pitch, and yaw) to ensure it points in the correct direction.
• This is achieved through a combination of sensors that monitor the
vehicle's state, controllers that process this data and calculate
necessary adjustments, and actuators that apply corrections to
maintain position and attitude.
8. Path & Trajectory :
Path planning defines a geometric route for a vehicle to follow, focusing
on reaching a destination (by avoiding obstacles)
Trajectory planning takes the geometric path and adds a time
component, specifying the robot's velocity, acceleration, and time of
passage along the path, essential for controlling motion dynamics and
ensuring smooth, efficient movement.
Low-level flight control
• Systems that manage an aircraft's motion at low altitudes, a process
often involving feedback control for angular rates, attitude, and
vertical velocity.
• For multicopters, this involves a multi-stage process including
position, attitude control, control allocation and motor control. The
control system calculates desired commands, allocates them to
motors, and sends them to the electronic speed controllers (ESCs) to
achieve desired flight performance.
 Proportional integral derivation (PID)

Position Control: Determine the desired roll and pitch angles to achieve the desired control and complex
maneuvering capabilities, allowing for aggressive maneuvers and high-precision flight in 3D space.
Attitude Control: Calculates the desired moment (torque) required to achieve the desired attitude
(orientation) based on the position control outputs.
Control Allocation: Allocates the desired propeller speeds to each motor to achieve the desired thrust and
moment commands from the attitude controller.
Motor Control: Translates the desired propeller speeds into actual control commands for the individual
motors’ ESC.
High-level flight control
• Advanced, automated or semi-automated control systems that direct
an aircraft's flight path and trajectory, often using complex models
and algorithms to manage flight and formation flying for unmanned
vehicles, or manage navigation for manned helicopters.
• It can also refer to the high-level of control and complex maneuvering
an aircraft is capable of, allowing for aggressive maneuvers and high
precision flight
Mission Planning: Set of point
servers as an input to the path
planning.
Path Planning: Finding a feasible
and optimal trajectory between
the start and end configurations.
Low level control : Feedback
control loops for position and
attitude control.
Anti-Vibration and Noise Reduction
• Vibration Control – Process of reducing/eliminating the source vibration
• Noise control – Process of reducing overall noise.
• Technique:
1. Passive control / Dampening: Achieved through material-based passive
solutions like vibration-dampening components and acoustic materials,
structural modifications such as stiffening wings or adding composite
structures.
2. Active control technique: Generates opposing signals to cancel out
vibrations.
2. Balancing: Propellers and motors reduce vibration and noise.
 Recap of Unit 1
• Introduction to drone
• Types of drones
• Applications
• Basic components of drone
• Architecture of drone
• Aerodynamics – Airfoil, Principle, Types of forces, How to generate
force?
• Flight dynamics – DoF, Performance characteristics
• Drone design calculation and assumptions – Formula and Problems
 Recap of Unit 1 (Contd…)
• Propeller and Energy management – Propulsion system, Motor
modelling, ESC, Battery, Challenges.
• Multicopter Flight Control – Components, Control system, Low &
High flight control model
• Vibration & Noise reduction - Techniques