diff --git a/wobsite/controls.md b/wobsite/controls.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..04dacb4f946313e3e8b4569ffc23efaaf3e2b4bb --- /dev/null +++ b/wobsite/controls.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +layout: default +--- +# Quadcopter PID Controllers + +The quadcopter is stabilized with on-board PID controllers. These controllers +use pitch, roll, and yaw data from on-board sensors and positional data from the +infrared tracking system to determine appropriate actuator signals necessary +to keep the quadcopter stable during flight. + +The classical PID controller is characterized by 3 coefficients that specify +how the controller functions. A PID controller can be configured through +iterative determination of the PID coefficients, but we expect to obtain a more +accurate control system by first developing a robust mathematical model of the +quadcopter system. Once we establish this model, we can use numerical +characteristics of the quadcopter to calculate the appropriate PID coefficients +for our controllers. + +The model we are developing follows the methods developed by our advising +graduate student Matt Rich in his thesis [Model development, system +identification, and control of a quadrotor helicopter][1]. + + + +[1]: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/12770/ \ No newline at end of file