Control Systems · Mechatronics · Dynamic Modeling · 2022

2-DOF Twin-Rotor Aerospace System

Design, modeling, and real-time control of a 2-DOF twin-rotor electromechanical system using two brushless motors, optical encoder feedback, and PID control to stabilize the platform in pitch and yaw.

MATLAB Simulink PID Control Brushless Motors Optical Encoders 2-DOF Dynamics Dynamic Modeling Feedback Control Real-Time Control Mechatronics

Why this mattered

The twin-rotor platform is a coupled nonlinear system in which the motion generated by each brushless motor influences the overall orientation of the mechanism. The objective was to maintain stable pitch and yaw angles using direct angular-position feedback from optical encoders rather than relying on IMU-based attitude estimation.

How I approached it

Modeled the nonlinear and coupled dynamics of the 2-DOF twin-rotor system in pitch and yaw.
Used two brushless motors as the primary actuators for controlling the two rotational degrees of freedom.
Measured the angular position of each axis directly using two optical rotary encoders, providing precise feedback without requiring IMU-based orientation estimation.
Developed PID feedback controllers to regulate the brushless motor outputs and maintain the commanded pitch and yaw angles.
Implemented and tuned the control system using MATLAB and Simulink.
Tested the controllers on the physical platform and iteratively adjusted the PID gains based on the real system response.
Validated the ability of the system to recover from angular disturbances and maintain stable orientation around both controlled axes.

What came out of it

Achieved closed-loop stabilization of the physical twin-rotor platform in two rotational degrees of freedom.
Implemented real-time position feedback using optical encoders instead of IMU-based attitude sensing.
Demonstrated PID-based control of two brushless motors for maintaining the desired pitch and yaw orientation.
Validated the controller through simulation and experimental testing on the physical electromechanical system.

Experimental evidence

See the system working.

Selected figures from the research and hardware experiments. Click any figure to inspect it at full resolution.

Physical 2-DOF twin-rotor aerospace system with two brushless motors and optical encoder feedback. — Physical 2-DOF twin-rotor platform using two brushless motors for actuation and optical encoders for direct pitch and yaw position feedback.

Experimental demonstration of the PID-controlled twin-rotor system maintaining and recovering its orientation using real-time optical encoder feedback.