AdvancedTopic 71 of 102Manufacturing, Robotics & Systems
Drones and UAVs
Multirotor and fixed-wing aircraft with autonomous control.
In depth
Multirotors (quadcopters) control attitude via differential rotor thrust; fixed-wing and VTOL fly efficiently. Systems: flight controller (IMU, PID/cascaded control), ESCs, motors, GNSS, radio, payloads, regulations. Applications: inspection, mapping, delivery, agriculture. Endurance limited by batteries.
Key points
- Roll, pitch, yaw, thrust
- PX4 and ArduPilot
- Geofencing and airspace rules
ExampleA survey drone creates 3D maps with photogrammetry.
What is Drones and UAVs?
Multirotor and fixed-wing aircraft with autonomous control.
Why is it important to understand drones and UAVs?
Drones use autonomous control to fly for inspection, mapping and delivery, and they reveal the principles of flight control clearly.
What keeps a multirotor stable?
Speed differences between rotors create torques that control roll, pitch and yaw, with feedback from an inertial unit.
What limits drone endurance?
Battery energy density is the main limit, so flight time is short compared with fuel powered aircraft.
How is Drones and UAVs used in practice?
Typical applications include surveying a construction site from the air with photogrammetry, inspecting a wind turbine blade with a camera drone and delivering small parcels in a rural area by drone.
What should I learn before Drones and UAVs?
Study "Human-robot interaction and cobots" first (topic 70 of 102 in Manufacturing, Robotics & Systems). It covers the groundwork this topic builds on.
What are the key points of Drones and UAVs?
Roll, pitch, yaw, thrust. PX4 and ArduPilot. Geofencing and airspace rules.
Can you give an example of Drones and UAVs?
A survey drone creates 3D maps with photogrammetry.
What comes after Drones and UAVs?
The next topic is "Autonomous vehicles", which builds directly on this one.
How difficult is Drones and UAVs?
It is classed as Advanced in Manufacturing, Robotics & Systems (topic 71 of 102). It is an advanced topic. It assumes you are comfortable with the intermediate topics in Manufacturing, Robotics & Systems.