Measuring rotor speed for wind vector estimation on multirotor aircraft

• For several applications involving multirotor aircraft, it is crucial to know both the direction and speed of the ambient wind. In this paper, an approach to wind vector estimation based on an equilibrium of the principal forces acting on the aircraft is shown. As the thrust force generated by the rotors depends on their rotational speed, a sensor to measure this quantity is required. Two concepts for such a sensor are presented: One is based on tapping the signal carrying the speed setpoint for the motor controllers, the other one uses phototransistors placed underneath the rotor blades. While some complications were encountered with the first approach, the second yields accurate measurement data. This is shown by an experiment comparing the proposed speed sensor to a commercial non-contact tachometer.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Robotteknik och automation (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Robotics (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Signalbehandling (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Signal Processing (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Rotor speed

tachometer

UAV

wind vector estimation

Mechanical Engineering

Maskinteknik

Electrical Engineering

Elektroteknik

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)