In 2004 the Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith Fund
awarded the School of Mechanical Engineering a grant to purchase
two Quanser aerospace rigs for teaching control; the
2DOF Heli
and the
3DOF Hover.
These rigs have now been fully commissioned and are used for teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
The teaching tools developed in the School of Mechanical Engineering have been posted here so others may benefit.
Many errors were found in the manuals and software.
We have endeavoured to correct these in the documentation below.
2DOF Heli
The
2DOF Heli
shown in the figure above consists of a helicopter model mounted on a fixed base.
The helicopter model has two propellers driven by DC motors.
The pitch propeller and the yaw propeller are used to control the pitch and yaw of the model respectively.
Motion about the two degrees of freedom is measured using two encoders.
Electrical signals and power from the pitch encoder and the two motors are transmitted via a slipring.
This allows for unlimited yaw and eliminates the possibility of wires tangling on the yaw axis.
Helicopter Tutorial and Manual
A tutorial on the 2DOF Helcopter has been written (based on the manual supplied by Quanser).
This document contains the correct information about the linearised state equations and the
various parameters needed to model the system.
Helicopter State Model
A Simulink model of the Heli system has been built,
including a VRML (Virtual Reality Model).
This model has state augmentation to remove any steady state errors
and allows the user to toggle between full state feedback and control using
an estimator.
You will need the
image file for the Simulink model.
Save all these in your working directory.
These files will allow you to model the plant in virtual reality.
If you do not have a joystick, then you will need to delete the joystick block otherwise you will get a signal dimension
error.
In order for the model to run you will need to answer all the questions in the
tutorial (above).
If you do not wish to do these yourself, you can contact me an I will provide you with the necessary m file
to define the system gains and matrices.
Alternatively, the m file provided with the rig will get you half way there.
Please note that in the supplied m file, the division by 5 (to account for the gain across the amp) should not be there and is an error.
Comment out this line.
Helicopter IO Blocks for Dspace DS1104
A Simulink library has been written for the DS1104 and the Quanser 2DOF Heli.
There is a joystick input and an I/O block for the DACs and encoders.
The joystick is the one supplied with the rig.
You'll need the Heli image too.
There are several accurate Simulink models available for doing real time control on the 2DOF Heli platform using
a dSpace DS1104. These are based on the Simulink model above. These can be provided upon request.
3DOF Hover
The 3DOF Hover
system consists of a frame with 4 propellers mounted on a 3 DOF pivot joint
such that the body can freely roll, pitch and yaw.
The propellers generate a lift force that can be used to control the pitch and roll angles.
The total torque generated by the propeller motors causes a yaw to the body as well.
Two propellers in the system are counter-rotating propellers such that the total torque in the system is balanced
when the thrusts of the 4 propellers are approximately equal.
Motion about the three degrees of freedom is measured using two encoders.
All electrical signals to and from the body are transmitted via a slipring thus eliminating
the possibility of tangled wires and reducing the amount of friction and loading about the moving axes.
Hover Tutorial and Manual
A tutorial on the 3DOF Hover has been written
(based on the manual supplied by Quanser).
This document contains the correct information about the linearised state equations and the
various parameters needed to model the system.
Hover State Model
A Simulink model of the Hover system has been built,
including a VRML (Virtual Reality Model).
This model has state augmentation to remove any steady state errors
and allows the user to toggle between full state feedback and control using
an estimator.
You will need the
image file for the Simulink model.
Save all these in your working directory.
These files will allow you to model the plant in virtual reality.
If you do not have a joystick,
then you will need to delete the joystick block otherwise you will get a signal dimension
error.
In order for the model to run you will need to answer all the questions in the
tutorial (above).
If you do not wish to do these yourself, you can contact me an I will provide you with the necessary m file
to define the system gains and matrices.
Alternatively, the m file provided with the rig will get you half way there.
Hover IO Blocks for Quanser MultiQ Board
A Simulink library has been written for the
Quanser MultiQ board and the Quanser 3DOF Hover.
There is a joystick input and an I/O block for the DACs and encoders.
The joystick we use is a modified 3DOF Logitech ExtremePro 3D. This provides pitch, roll and yaw control.
You'll need the Hover image too.
If you compare this library with the Simulink model supplied with thr rig,
you will notice that the gain of 1/5 has been removed from the DAC section.
This gain was erroneously added to account for the gain of 5 across the UPM amps.
However the torque constants used in the derivation (by myself and Quanser) of the state equations
are from the voltage input to the amp (not the motor).
There are several accurate Simulink models available for doing real time control on the 3DOF Hover platform using
Quanser's WinCon and a MultiQ board. These are based on the Simulink model above.
These can be provided upon request.
