Single Degree of Freedom Helicopter Model:

Laboratory Setup Design

Rohit Mane∗‡ , Kaliprasad A. Mahapatro† , Aniket D. Gundecha∗
∗ MIT Academy of Engineering, Alandi(D), Pune, INDIA
† Avantika University, Ujjain, INDIA
‡ Email: [email protected]

Abstract—This paper presents the design of a single degree of higher tracking accuracy [11]. Active disturbance rejection
freedom (1-DOF) Helicopter model mounted on light-weighted control(ARDC) and PID based control for the inner control
hollow metal rod passed through a rectangular metal block fixed loop and the outer control loop respectively is proposed
between vertical support. The light weighted metal rod through
the metal rod is placed such that the length from the block to its for position and attitude control of small unmanned quad-
end is adjustable. A Brush Less Direct Current (BLDC) Motor, rotor helicopter model and an extended state observer(ESO)
along with the Arduino controller, is connected at the end of the is designed to observe and compensate the inner and outer
rod with a propeller fixed on it. uncertainties in real-time [12] [13] [14]. Further advancements
Index Terms—One Degree of Freedom Helicopter(1 DoF), PID in the dynamics and control of the 2-DOF helicopter include
Control Scheme, Laboratory Setup
Neural Network (NN) controlling for nonlinear flight control.
The neural network is apparent compared to the conventional
I. I NTRODUCTION
linear quadratic regulator(LQR) [15]. Another combination in
The data relevant to it is surveyed in order to understand achieving a robust control in the 2-DOF helicopter system used
the functioning and control aspect of the previously developed is the Single Input Single Output (SISO) PID control along
models [1], [2], [3] and [4] such as the 3 DOF Helicopter with an Uncoupled MIMO Cross-Control and Servo-tracking
Model and 2 DOF Helicopter Model and other Control Sys- control with extended state observer(ESO) [16].
tem Lab Setups like the Industrial Plant Emulator, Control Fuzzy controller among the 1-DOF helicopters is also
Moment Gyroscope, Inverted Pendulum, MagLev Apparatus, famous for regulation of the attitude of the 1-DOF heli-
Rectilinear Plant, Torsional Apparatus, etc. copters [17]. Further enhancement in the dynamics of the
Various other alternative controls, for different types of system, where a dual rotor helicopter is proposed with a
helicopter models have been developed previously, and with protect frame and contact force control [18]. A Model of
adaptable mass distribution for the helicopter flight to control 2-DOF helicopter with the equations of movement of Euler-
the unwanted torques for the sake of smooth and comfortable Lagrange is obtained at an operating point [19]. A labora-
flight. This is exercised using the requisite robust control tory model of 1-DOF helicopter for exercising mechatronic
algorithm based on the super twisting [5]. A similar control systems for educational purposes is set up [20]. In [21], a
algorithm with linear modeling about the equilibrium point generic technology underlying the novel hybrid multi-degree-
about the pitch angle, using the DK iteration method, in an of-freedom motor with improved tilting torque, practicality,
unstable nonlinear the MIMO 2-DOF Helicopter system is and control for applications which require actuation for greater
observed [6]. In [7] the model is focused on the rejection than 2-DOF is implemented. And a 2-DOF PID control with
of disturbances by sliding mode control (SMC), removing the factional order PID (FOPID) controller of Twin Rotor MIMO
chattering phenomenon, and fuzzy logic tunes have been es- System (TRMS) been proposed in [22]is implemented. The
tablished. Moreover, a comparison between SMC control and major contribution and arrangement of the paper are,
PID based on the linear quadratic regulation algorithm (LQR- 1) Economical, frugal laboratory setup design has been
PID) is implemented. A similar kind of 3-DOF helicopter with showcased in chapter 2
continuous sliding-mode controllers with the desired sliding 2) Flexibility with the controller. In this paper Arduino Uno
dynamics using the generalized formula by Ackermann and which has a MATLAB support package
Utkin is performed in a complete state concurrently, and high 3) Efficient engagement of students in teaching-learning
order sliding-mode differentiator is also implemented [8]. process by implementing a closed and open-loop system
The dynamics in the helicopter model are established, in chapter 3, followed by conclusion in chapter 4
and an adaptive integral backstepping algorithm is applied
II. S YSTEM D ESIGN AND DYNAMICS
to achieve robust control of a 3-DOF Helicopter [9]. An
investigation for the proper tracking of control problems of A. System Design
the elevation and travel angles by combination mixed control The implementation of 1 DOF Helicopter plant is proposed
algorithms like normal PID [10], linear quadratic regula- such that the Helicopter Setup fixed on the metal rod sus-
tor (LQR) and PID-type iterative learning is proposed for pended between a support of two vertical rigid plates, allowing
the rod to freely pitch about the horizontal axis, passing
between the vertical support plates through the metal block.
Setup is set, such as to move the helicopters rotor setup only
along a single axis of rotation i.e. pitching angle of rotation.
The complete structure is shown in Fig. 11

Fig. 2: Metal Block

Fig. 1: 1 DOF Helicopter System Block Diagram

Shown in Fig. 1 is a Functional Block Diagram Lab setup,

which altogether has five functional blocks, namely, The
switch mode power supply (SMPS), a 100 kΩ Potentiometer,
Arduino Uno, the Monitor, and a BLDC Motor. Each block
do function differently but equally contribute in making up a
complete system of 1 DOF Helicopter Model.
Three-phase Electronic Seed Controller (ESC), which is
capable of driving the motors which consume up to 30A
current. The best part of it is that it has a Battery Eliminator
Circuit(BEC) which, as the name suggests, eliminates the
need for a separate battery to power the 5V electronic device.
The 100 kΩ potentiometer here plays a vital role in getting
the exact value of the rod position or the travel angles with
minimum error in angle positioning of the rod as it gives
the readings in terms of analog data, which the controller
processes the data in the range as 0 1023 which is further
scaled to 0 to 180 degree using the map() function in Arduino.

B. Mechanical Modelling
1 DOF Helicopter is a model that simply consists of a
base, and two vertically placed support plates with 550mm Fig. 3: Metal Block Schematic
distance in between. A metal block, which is a 50mm ×
40mm rectangular block(Fig. 2 and 3), is freely suspended
on two cylindrical extrusions or rollers on the inner side of to fix the potentiometer in it. Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 clearly show
the vertical support plates, for which a 0.6 mm drill is made the difference between the LHS and RHS cylindrical block.
horizontally through the block. The dimensions of the metal Moreover, the fixing of a potentiometer with LHS cylindrical
block are shown in Fig. 2. block can be seen in the Fig.6.
The two cylindrical blocks are designed differently pur- The metal block is specially designed to load and unload on
posely to keep the Metal Block freely suspended for its the system easily. The Rectangular hole throughout the length
requisite movement. And an arrangement has been done in of the block is specifically intended explicitly for holding the
the left-hand side (LHS) cylindrical block for fixing the flat rod tight while the free play of the metal block when
100kΩ potentiometer on it. The left-hand side cylindrical the system is in function. The cylindrical extrusions are put
block is comparatively 10mm larger in length as per the design together with the ball-bearings to have smooth rotation. The
constraints of the system. Also, the LHS cylindrical block has small cylindrical extruded part is of 10mm, in which the metal
an indentation of 6mm diameter and length 10mm in order block is freely suspended between the two of them, and it is
 Fig. 6: Potentiometer and Cylindrical Extrusion Fixing

of freedom about the cylindrical extruded metal part. i.e., the

metal rod is restricted to move only about its pitching axis.The
Metal Rod is a light weighted aluminum rod precisely cut in
the dimensions of 9mm by 16mm and about 610mm long. The
Design for a light weighted metal rod, as shown in the Fig.
7. The base of the overall system is just a rectangular plate
Fig. 4: LHS Cylindrical Rollers

Fig. 7: System Base and Metal Rod

of 380mm x 380mm, and a thickness of 20mm provided the

holes for fixing of the vertical support plate of the system.
Fig. 5: RHS Cylindrical Rollers The surface area of the base is kept bigger in order to get the
unnecessary subtle vibrations absorbed down or get damped
during systems free play.The Design of the base is as shown
fixed with a earing along with vertical supports. Fig. 6 clearly in the Fig. 7.
illustrates how the system appears when the peripherals are Secondly, the vertical support plates (Fig. 8b) are designed
loaded. specifically to sustain the physical load and the shocks of
A flat metal rod is passed through the rectangular pocket a system when the metal block and the rod is under free
made throughout the length of a Metal block. The rectangular play. Also, it is designed in order to damp the unnecessary
flat metal rod is a 600mm rod has made to pass through the vibrations, generated form the rotary motion of the BLDC
freely suspended Metal block. The Flat rectangular metal rod, motor and the propellers, during the functioning of the system.
from the halfway has 0.8mm drills made after every 20mm The two vertical support plates are of 20mm thickness and
of distance. Then the flat rod is riveted to the metal block have a circular indentation of about 30mm diameter for both
using 0.7mm nut and bolt, which prevents the flat metal rod LHS and RHS vertical plate. But the only difference both
from slipping off during the free play of the helicopter. The plates is the LHS has the circular indentation through out the
flat metal rod is restricted to move only in a single degree plate as shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 9, whereas the RHS vertical
plate has the circular indentation only halfway in the plate
(i.e. of 10mm of depth), which is intentionally done to fix
the potentiometer with LHS Cylindrical Block along with ball
bearings to get a smooth rotary motion for the movement of
the Helicopter Rod setup. The Vertical Support plates are fixed
using four L-shaped rods of about 290mm long, two for each
vertical plate to fix tight on the plate. The L-shaped Rod used
for setting the support plates is shown in Fig. 8a.

Fig. 10: Actual System Image

A. Open Loop Control of 1 DOF Helicopter

The Open-Loop Control of the 1 DOF Helicopter system is

implemented using only the analog values obtained form the
(a) L-Shaped Metal Rod (b) Right Vertical Support Plate 100k Ohm Potentiometer. The Potentiometer is fixed along
with the cylindrical block, imitates the rotary motion, and
Fig. 8: Support Structure monitors the rotation of the metal block, which is under free
play along pitching axis. As the Analog range for the Arduino
is from 0-1023 every minute, change in the rotation of the rod
about its pitching axis is detected with minute details. Further,
for convenience, the Analog range of 0-1023 of the system
can be converted into the equally resembling values of the
angle from 0-180 degrees. During the open-loop operation of
system, it is simply operated using the if-else conditional loop.
The BLDC Motor is initially set in rotary motion, by setting
the PWM values(which range from 0 255 in Arduino) run
incrementally. The helicopter is observed to be resting for the
analog values from 0 till 49, and later the motor takes a pick
up in speed as the PWM value goes in crescendo in the loop.
But a lift is observed at 50 point above the of analog value
and is observed to be at exactly 90 degrees at the analog point
of 230 (of the analog range 0-1023). At this stage, a logical
conditional loop is applied that as the Helicopter rod reaches
Fig. 9: System Assembly Isometric View.
the set point of 200, the PWM count is set to reverse, and a
simultaneous and gradual drop in observed in the BLDC motor
speed. But as soon as the Helicopter rod lowers, a quick rise in
C. System Operation PWM count is set so that the motor gains the required speed
Figure 10 gives the complete assembly of system, with the to reach the 230 (i.e., the 90 degrees) set point. The system
controller board. Initially, the Arduino Uno board equipped behavior under such a open-loop condition does not maintain
ATmega328p is connected to the PC on which the code is the requisite stability in the system. The system behavior under
dumped into the board through Arduino IDE. After all the such an operational open loop can be understood from the Fig.
peripherals are connected, SMPS is connected with a power 11
supply and the system is let free for its functioning. From the given Fig.11 and Fig.12, it can be concluded
that the system under such an operational open loop gains
III. E XPERIMENTAL V ERIFICATION
a transient response if the Helicopter rod is intentionally
This chapter consists of two different phases of Implemen- oscillating. Which enabled such occurrence due to the absence
tations, of the feedback control.
 Fig. 11: Open Loop System Response (Angle) Fig. 13: Close Loop Response (Angle)

Fig. 12: Open Loop System Response (PWM) Fig. 14: Closed Loop Response (PWM)

B. Closed Loop Control of 1 DOF Helicopter The graph for the P appeared to be as shown in the Fig.16
given for the Proportional gain value of Kp = 0.4.
The Implementation of closed-loop control in 1-DOF He-
licopter is done using the PID Algorithm in the Arduino
IDE. While the implementation of the PID control in the 1
DOF Helicopter, the system functions precisely in resemblance
that of the functional block diagram shown in Fig. 1. While
the implementation of closed-loop control in the system, a
PID library i.e., ’PID v1.h’ is used. Initially, a input and a
output pin for the board are assigned and then gain variables
like Kp , Ki and Kd constants for proportional, integral, and
derivative action respectively along with the requisite setpoint
is awarded. For this particular system, the values for Kp ,
Ki and Kd at stability of 90 and 230 set points for angle
and equivalent PWM, are observed to have values typically
as 0.08, 0.05, and 0.025 respectively. At which the system
relatively sustains any significant disturbance either natural Fig. 15: System Response for Kp = 0.4 (Angle)
or intentionally introduced to the system. The response of
the helicopter rod at the gain variable points of Kp = 0.08, For other values of Kp above 0.5, the system behavior was
Ki = 0.005, Kd = 0.025 is observed to be, under disturbed unstable, and helicopter rod setup give a sudden jerk in a
conditions is as shown in Fig. 13 and Fig. 14 for their Angle continuously fast way. Thus,as a resultant, makes the system
and PWM responses receptively. unstable. But for values lower than 0.2, the motor takes more
The observation for rest of the Algorithms like P , P D and time to operate or even wont work due such a low value of
P I didn’t seem to be more effective in achieving the stability proportional constant. For the PD Algorithm, the similar kind
or the requisite output for any of the combinations of gain of sudden jerks are observed in the system for Kp = 0.4 and
constants(i.e. P , P D and P I) other than P ID itself for the Kd = 0.1 and above the value of the same. In the case of PI,
given Angle and PWM Set points of 90 and 230 respectively. the system is noted to have a very long delay in reaching the
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