1st International Conference on Advances in
Engineering, Architecture, Science and Technology,
Erzurum Technical University, December 15-17,
2021, ERZURUM/TURKEY
Pages: 10 - 14, Paper ID: 162
Design and Control of One-DOF Helicopter System
Mehmet Akif Macit 1*[0000-0001-9450-2391] and Ali Unluturk 2[0000-0001-9722-1587]
1
macitakif@[Link], Department of Electrical-Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and
Architechture, Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum
2
[Link]@[Link], Department of Electrical-Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and
Architechture, Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum
Abstract
In this study, a One-Degree of Freedom (One-DOF) helicopter system that can move vertically up and down in
the x-axis direction has been designed. A single rotor Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) motor, which is widely
used in unmanned aerial vehicles, has been mounted on this One-DOF helicopter. It is aimed to enable it to fly by
adding a single bladed propeller to the brushless direct current motor. There is a GY-88 10 DOF Inertial
Measurement Unit (IMU) on the One-DOF helicopter system. On the GY-88 10 DOF IMU Module, it includes
MPU 6050 motion sensor (3-axis gyroscope and 3-axis acceleration sensor), HMC5883L (3-axis magnetometer)
module and BMP085 barometer pressure sensor on a single board for a complete orientation and heading
measurement. Stable tilt angle measurement has been performed by combining 3-axis gyroscope and 3-axis
acceleration sensors data with the developed Kalman Filter (KF) software. Closed-loop controller algorithms such
as Proportional (P), Proportional Integral (PI) and Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) have been developed for
the control of the vertical take-off and landing One-DOF helicopter system. The performances of these developed
classical controllers have been evaluated in detail in the experimental results section.
Keywords: One-DOF Helicopter, BLDC Motor, PID Controller, Kalman Filter, IMU.
1. Introduction
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) attract the attention of the scientific community, the private sector and hobby
researchers thanks to their flexible maneuvering capabilities. Today, small-sized hobby-purpose unmanned aerial
vehicles, which are light, economical and capable of fast forward flight by hovering in the air in narrow spaces,
are easily accessible (Bristeau et al., 2011). Also, different types of UAVs have been designed recently in order to
respond to the needs of people in an efficient, economical and reliable way. For example, different flying car
models continue to be developed for urban air transportation, urban passenger transportation, health sector, cargo
transportation and logistics support activities in the military. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles in civilian
applications, especially in the military field, has become widespread and has gained an important place. In addition
to these, UAVs are the most important and practical tools for on-site response, especially in natural disasters and
emergencies.
The complex dynamic model and non-linear structure of these aircraft, it makes the work of researchers very
difficult (Jafar et al., 2016). Unmanned aerial vehicles such as helicopters are nonlinear systems. Therefore, it is
unstable and difficult to model (Humaidi and Hasan, 2019). There is also no systematic and general adaptive
controller design procedure that can be applied to all nonlinear systems such as UAVs. Therefore, the properties
and operating procedures of nonlinear systems are usually converted into a linear and specific system. Then, this
linear structure is analyzed and the system is controlled by using controllers such as classical P, PI, PD and PID.
PID controllers are widely used because of their simple structure (Kim, 2012). The most preferred controller type
in robotic applications is PID (Mane et al., 2013; Rithirun et al., 2021). Unmanned aerial vehicles also have higher
system tolerance due to their usage areas. Therefore, it is necessary to match the properties and operating
procedures of the nonlinear system with a linear and specific system. After the analysis of the structure, efficiency
can be obtained by using PI, PD and PID controller.
In this paper, we introduce a control methodology to stabilize the One-DOF arm around the balance point, and
also in which degree it is desired, without any model, and then in next attempts we will present how to control the
One-DOF helicopter by P, PI and PID type controller.
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1st International Conference on Advances in Engineering,
Architecture, Science and Technology, Erzurum Technical
University, December 15-17, 2021, ERZURUM/TURKEY
The rest of this paper has been orgaized as follows. In Section II, hardware structure and software of One-DOF
helicopter have been introduced. In Section III, controller performances has been experimentally tested for
different scenarios. Finally, some concluding remarks have been presented in Section IV.
2. Hardware Structure and Software
Firstly, the first prototype model of the One-DOF helicopter system was obtained with SolidWorks, the computer
aided 3D solid modeling and design software of which Erzurum Technical University has a license server (Erzurum
Technical University, 2021). A real-time mechanical arm system that can move up and down in the x-axis direction
according to the model dimensions obtained from the SolidWorks software was built. Equipment of the One-DOF
helicopter system: 2200kV BLDC motor (The model number of the BLDC is 1xA2212/6T), Electronic Speed
Control (ESC) unit, 3S Lithium Polymer (Li-Po) battery, GY-88 10 DOF IMU sensor board and Ardiuno UNO
microprocessor. Arduino UNO is a portable embedded device that allows users to design and control robotic or
mechatronic systems. The block diagram in Figure 1 shows the hardware structure of the One-DOF helicopter in
detail.
Figure 1. Hardware structure of One-DOF helicopter
There is a BLDC motor on the 1-DOF helicopter. Technical parameter of the BLDC motor is given in Table 1
(ABRA 2021).
Table 1. Parameter of the BLDC motor
Load
KV Voltage Power Pull Efficiency Li-Po Weight
MODEL Prop Current
(rpm/V) (V) (W) (g) (g/W) Cell (g)
(A)
930 1060 9.8 109 660 6.1
1000 1047 15.6 173 885 5.1
2-4S
1400 9050 19.0 210 910 4.3
A2212 11.1 52
1800 8060 20.8 231 805 3.5
2200 6030 21.5 239 732 3.1
2-3S
2450 6030 25.2 280 815 2.9
As can be seen from Table 1, the BLDC motor rotates at 2200 rpm per volt. The rated voltage of the motor is
11.1V. The load current is 15.6 A, the shaft power of the motor is 173W. It has an efficiency of 5.1g/W. BLDC
motor can be powered by 2-4S li-po battery.
The mechanical structure of the One-DOF helicopter system consists of a base and two vertical plates. The base
plate is 180 mm wide and 400 mm long. The vertical plates have a length of 250 mm and a height of 350 mm, with
a support plate between them. There is a cylindrical structure to which the main rod is connected by bearings
between the two plates. The main bar has a width of 50 mm and a length of 650 mm. The elements that make up
the system are placed on this bar. The SolidWorks drawing of One-DOF helicopter is shown in Figure 2a. The
main parts of the realized One-DOF helicopter can be seen in Figure 2b.
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1st International Conference on Advances in Engineering,
Architecture, Science and Technology, Erzurum Technical
University, December 15-17, 2021, ERZURUM/TURKEY
Figure 2a) Solidworks model of One-DOF helicopter 2b) Realized One-DOF helicopter
3. Experimental Results
Classical P, PI and PID controller structures have been applied in the stability control of the One-DOF helicopter
system. A low cost IMU (GY-88) sensor is used to keep the system at the desired reference point. The IMU is
widely used to determine motion, orientation, and altitude. In IMU control applications, it provides information
about the dynamics of the system and provides feedback to the controller. This IMU contains sensor gyroscope
and acceleration sensors. The tilt angle was obtained by combining the data obtained from the gyroscope and
acceleration sensor with the KF software. The tilt angle value of the One-DOF helicopter system is approximately
−53° degrees when in the current position at rest. PID controller structures were tried in the stability control of
the One-DOF helicopter. The realized PID controller parameter coefficients Kp, Ki and Kd were determined
experimentally. The PID controller structure is given in Figure 3.
Figure 3. PID controller structure of One-DOF helicopter
The system was first checked with the proportional control method. Different proportional gain (𝐾𝑝 = 0.57, 𝐾𝑝 =
1.14, 𝐾𝑝 = 1.71) values applied to the system. The tilt angle change is shown in Figure 4. As can be seen in Figure
4, the reference point of the One-DOF helicopter could not be reached to 0° degrees at different proportional
controller gain values. As a result, the control of the system cannot be performed only with a proportional
controller.
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1st International Conference on Advances in Engineering,
Architecture, Science and Technology, Erzurum Technical
University, December 15-17, 2021, ERZURUM/TURKEY
Figure 4. Different proportional controller gains of One-DOF helicopter
Secondly, proportional-integral controller was tested on the One-DOF system. Figure 5 shows the graph obtained
for different PI (𝐾𝑝 = 0.17 𝐾𝑖 = 0.0016, 𝐾𝑝 = 0.37 𝐾𝑖 = 0.01, 𝐾𝑝 = 0.5 𝐾𝑖 = 0.0015) controller gain values. As
can be seen from the figure, the system tends to go to the reference point by excessive oscillation. Excessive
oscillations are not a desirable situation in the control of systems.
Figure 5. Different proportional-integral controller gains of One-DOF helicopter
Finally, the proportional-integral-derivative controller structure was tested on the One-DOF system. Figure 6
shows the graph obtained for different PID controller gain values. As can be seen from the figure, the system went
to the reference point in a more stable way. The stable state of the system was obtained with the realized Kp= 0.57,
Ki=0.0017 and Kd=0.016 PID gain parameters.
Figure 6. Different proportional-integral-derivative controller gains of One-DOF helicopter
4. Conclusion
In this study, performances of classical P, PI and PID based controllers developed for stable control of One-DOF
helicopter around balance point are presented. All real-time system responses have been received and stabilization
has been achieved taking into account sensor feedback. As a result of the real-time experimental results, it has
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1st International Conference on Advances in Engineering,
Architecture, Science and Technology, Erzurum Technical
University, December 15-17, 2021, ERZURUM/TURKEY
been seen that the One-DOF helicopter fails the balance point control at different proportional controller gain
values Kp=0.17, Kp=1.14, Kp=1.71. In the tested PI controller gain parameters (Kp= 0.17, Ki=0.0016, Kp= 0.37,
Ki=0.01, Kp= 0.5, Ki=0.0015), excessive oscillations occurred in the transient state transition during the placement
of the One-DOF helicopter to the reference point. In the PID controller, on the other hand, the balance stability is
not good in some parameters (Kp= 0.37, Ki=0.0017, Kd=0.0001 and Kp= 0.45, Ki=0.0015 and Kd=0.0010).
However, with the PID gain parameters Kp= 0.57, Ki=0.0017 and Kd=0.016, the stable state of the system was
obtained. In this PID parameter, the transient and steady state response of the system is quite successful. In future
studies, it is aimed to implement advanced controller structures on the system.
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