Modelling of the Parasitic Effects and Accelerations

in the Dynamics of Multi-rotor Hovercrafts

Ali Shahbaz Haider*

Usman Khalid

Anas Mubashir

Muhammad Usman

EEE Dept.
CIIT
Wah, Pakistan
alishahbaz@ciitwah.edu.pk

EEE Dept.
CIIT
Wah, Pakistan
engr.usman093@gmail.com

EEE Dept.
CIIT
Wah, Pakistan
a.mubashir92@gmail.com

EEE Dept.
CIIT
Wah, Pakistan
m.usman93@gmail.com

AbstractThis article presents detailed modelling and analysis of

the various parasitic effects that creep into the dynamics of multirotor hovercrafts during transient and steady state flight
conditions. The term parasitic effects is coined to collectively
refer to undesirable effects such as frictional moments and air
drag moments, Coriolis and Centripetal acceleration, etc. these
effects are major source of coupling and nonlinearity in the
dynamics of hovercrafts. A Tee configuration tri-rotor hovercraft
with tilt rotor mechanism would be taken into account and
aforementioned effects would be modelled for it in such a way
that this analysis could easily be extended to any multi-rotor
hovercraft in any given configuration.
Keywords-paracitic effects; multi-rotor hovercrafts; UAV;
VTOL; T-Copter; Coriolis acceleration

I.

INTRODUCTION

Multi-rotor UAVs are Unmanned Air Vehicles that can

perform maneuvers and tasks in an automated way with the
capability to hover, hence making them ideal candidates fo
many civilian and military applications including and not
limited to surveillance and observations, path assessment,
disaster monitoring and land sliding observation, data and
image acquisition of targets [1]. With the future possibilities of
commercial hover bikes and hover vehicles replacing
traditional transport system, the significance of research of
multi-rotors has increased tremendously. The trends of mini
flying robots also adds to the importance of the research and
development of the multi-rotors. Since multi-rotors do not need
runway to take off and do not have complicated swash plate
mechanism, hence they are the best candidate for any
application requiring the capability of hover and the data
collection.
There are various structural configurations possible for the
multi-rotor, for instance Tee, Delta, Mesh, Cross etc. An
accurate and detailed understanding of the dynamics of these
hover hovercrafts is the first step in well stabilized and well
controlled flight and trajectory tracking for these flying robots,
subsequently enabling them to perform intricate maneuvers and
tasks for which they were designed. A well-developed model
may not only result in the enhanced performance of these
hovercrafts but also increase the domain of their application
hence resulting in commercial advantages.
This article aims to elucidate the subtle and intricate effects
that are major sources of nonlinearity, cross coupling and

degradation in the performance of these hovercrafts. These

effects are termed parasitic because they are often possibly
inevitable byproducts of desired maneuvers. A detailed
understanding of these effects may not only enable us to get
insight into the dynamics of these hovercrafts but also enable
us to make structural design amendments that may counter
these effects and result in a more stabile design.
In this research article we have investigated the parasitic
effects for Tee-structure hovercraft, which is known as the TCopter. It uses a tilt rotor mechanism to control the yaw. This
research paper comprises of our work corresponding to detailed
analysis of parasitic effects and accelerations that are generated
in T-Copter during its typical maneuvers. Some of these effects
appear during non-zero roll, pitch and yaw rates while others
may appear even during the steady state hover.
The organization of the paper is as follows, Section-II
provides a brief overview of the system hardware and
dynamics. Section III addresses the parasitic effects and
acceleration in detail. Section IV describes the conclusion and
future work.
II.

OVERVIEW OF HARDWARE AND DYNAMICS

A. Symbols and Terminology

Various symbols and terms that have been used to describe
the dynamics of T-copter are enlisted below:

=Real Space,
=roll, counter clockwise positive
=Pitch, counter clockwise positive
=yaw, counter clockwise positive
3
( , , ) =Angular displacement vector of the craft
M =mass of each rotor,
i =angular velocity of the ith rotor
m =mass of entire hovercraft structure,

3 3

=Pseudo inertial matrix,

3 3

=Rotational matrix

E1 , E2 , E3 =Body frame of reference

E x , E y , E z =Inertial frame of reference

C.G. =centre of gravity of the hovercraft body

b = angular velocity of craft body around C .G.
3
( x, y , z ) =position of the C.G in

and frames of references are also shown. It is worth noting that

two main rotors rotate in opposite directions to cancel some of
the parasitic effects as explained in further sections. The tilt
mechanism for the tail rotor is explained in Fig. 4.

l j =lengths of the respective sides of the hovercraft body

rj = distance of a point j from the given axes of rotation.

3
F =force vector in
3
=torque vector,

Fi =Force vector of the ith rotor

=parasitic moment term in the system dynamics

3

3 =parasitic acceleration term in the system dynamics

B. System Harware
The target system hardware is a tri-rotor aircraft as shown in
Fig. 1. It is considered to be a T-copter rotorcraft with two
main rotors and one tail rotor.

Fig. 3.

Simplified T-Copter Structure for the system modelling

Movable Motor Arm

Link

Movable
Servo Arm

Fig. 1.

The system hardware.

The tail rotor has a tilt servo mechanism as shown in Fig 2.

This mechanism compensates some of the parasitic effects as
explained in the further sections.

Fig. 4.

The Servo mechanism to adjust the tail rotor tilt angle .

Newton-Eulers equations govern the dynamics of the general

multi rotor hovercraft. These equations describe the dynamics
of the body of the craft in the inertial frame of reference. Eq. 1
d
2

dt

R33 F31 mg E z 31 (b , i , rj )

31

31

33

dt

Fig. 2.

The tail rotor tilt mechnism.

31 31 (b , i , rj )

Here
Ez 0

31

have x y z

we
0

and

1 .
T

A simplified T-Copter Structure for the hardware modelling is

shown in Fig. 3 the directions of rotations of various rotors
2

III.

PARASITIC EFFECTS ACCELERATIONS

The terms in the vectors and the vector in Eq.1 correspond

to the parasitic accelerations and the parasitic moments
respectively. Various parasitic effects can be categorized as,
1.

The air drag moments

2.

The tilt reaction moment

3.

The precession moments

4.

The angular acceleration moments (centripetal,

tangential and radial accelerations)

5.

The gyroscopic moments

the thread resulting in a change in the electronic balance

reading.
3

A. Air drag moments

When the blades of the propeller rotate they drag through the
air resulting in air drag moments around the spin axis of the
propeller. The direction of these moments is counter to the
direction of rotation of propellers. This moment is a function
p (.) of the angular speed of the propeller. The air drag moment
of the ith propeller, Qi can be expressed by Eq. 2.

Fig. 5.

Qi p (i )

Air drag moments for the T-Copter propellers.

The function p (.) is typically a polynomial function. Its order

and coefficients are determined by the curve fitting techniques
to the experimental data that maps the drag moment for the
angular velocity of the propeller. These moments shift their
axes of application from the spin axis of the propellers to C.G.
(aerodynamic centre) of the structure (Varignon's Second
Moment Theorem), as shown in Fig. 6. The air drag moment
vectors for the individual propeller are given by Eq. 3.
Q1 0

Q1

Q2 0

Q2

Q3 0

Q3 sin

Q3 cos

Fig. 6.

Air drag moments shifting axes to the C.G.

The net air drag moment M ad is the sum of the individual

moments in Eq. 3 and is given by Eq. 4.

D

M ad 0

Q3 sin

Q1 Q2 Q3 cos
T

Since 1 and 2 are opposite in direction so they neutralizing

the air drag effects Q1 and Q 2 to the great extent for the craft
body. Its drag moment component Q 3 sin acts as a
disturbance in the pitch controlling feedback loop and it has to
be rejected. The other component Q 3 cos is partially
balanced by the torqueing effect of component of the force
vector F3 in E1E2-plane in Fig. 3, that is l3 F3 sin . The static
Air drag calibration is done using laboratory setup shown in
Fig. 7. The driver signal duty cycle is varied and upward thrust
is balanced by counter weight W . The sideways air drag pulls

L1

Lc

L2

D2

Fig. 7.

Static Air drag calibration.

The second order and third order air drag calibration curves
are shown in Fig. 8. A third order curve fit is given by Eq. 5.
8

Qi 4.21 10 ui 1.27 10 ui
3

1.58 10 ui 0.031

C. The Angular Acceleration Moments

Consider Fig. 10 in which a particle at a position denoted
by point P, moves along a path on a lamina. Various terms are
given by,

B =the base point of pole point (C.G.)

XYZ -frame=the fixed reference frame with the origin O
xyz -frame=the fixed body frame rotating about z-axis or Zaxis.

b =the angular velocity of the lamina along Z or z-axis

R =the position vector of the C.G relative to the XYZ frame
r = the position vector of P relative to the XYZ frame
= the position vector of P relative to the xyz frame
a p =the total acceleration of P
Fig. 8.

Static air drag calibration curves.

B. Tilt Reaction Moment

As the tail rotor tilts in response to the commanded value of
the angle , a counter moment is produced on the craft body
according to Newtons third Law, hence the name tilt reaction
moment, denoted by M , r . It is shown in Fig. 9. The tilt
reaction moment acts around the E1-axis. If the moment of
inertia of the structure around E1-axis is given by I t then the
tilt reaction moment vector is given by Eq. 6.

M ,r

d 2
It 2
dt

a p , path =the acceleration of P relative to the path, considering the

path stationary
a M =the acceleration of the point M on lamina whose position

coincides with the point P at any given instant.

acor =Coriolis component of acceleration
Direction of translational
motion of lamina parallel
to xy-plane

path of P

0 0

Fig. 10.

Motion of a particle on a moving lamina.

If the lamina itself moves and rotates then the various

accelerations produced in the particle at position P are shown in
Fig. 11. The subscripts ' n ' and ' t ' denote normal and tangential
components
respectively
and
the
subscripts
' trans ' and ' rot ' denote translational and rotational components
respectively.

Fig. 9.

Tilt reaction moment.

Direction of translational motion

aM ,trans

of lamina i.e. of aM ,trans

Orbital path of M, neglecting

vP , path

path of P

a M ,t

aP , path aP , path , t aP , path , n

P
aM , n

aPi , path ,t

aP , path ,t

aPi , path , n
y

The net acceleration of particle P in Fig. 11 is elucidated

using vector addition technique in Fig. 12.

x
Y

aM ,trans
Fig. 11.

aM ,trans
aP , path , n

acor

mt

The acceleration aP , path in Eq. 9 is expressed by by Eq. 12.

translational motion of lamina

Fnet

aP

Various accelerations produced in the particle P.

The total acceleration of point P is given by Eq. 7.

aP acor aM aP , path

aP , path ,t

acor

aM ,t

aM , n

Fig. 12.

If vP , path denote the tangential velocity of P in xyz frame then

coriolis acceleration is given by Eq. 8.
acor 2b vP , path 2 b vP , path sin( ) k

Here is the angle between vP , path and b , and k is the unit

vector normal to plane of the aforementioned two vectors. In
Eq. 7 we have,
aM aM ,trans aM , rot

aP , path , n

Net acceleration of particle P by vector addition.

Now the above formulation of Eq. 7 through Eq. 12 are

used for the case of propeller blade. Let our rotor craft be
parallel to the XY plane. Let P1 and P2 be any of the two points
on the two opposite sides of propeller blades at a distance
from the axes of rotation C. The following Fig. 13 shows the
acceleration analysis for these two points on the propeller
blades.
vP , path

aP , path,n

path of P

acor

The Rotational component of aM in Eq. 9 is given by Eq. 10.

1 ds

d P , path ,t aP , path ,t

aP , path ,t d P , path,t

aM , t

aM ,trans

2
b
dt

d s
dt

vP , path

acor

aM , rot aM , n aM , t
aM , n

aP , path,n

d ( (t ))

aP , path ,t

d P , path ,t

aP , path,n
acor

dt

vP , path

If Fnet is the net force on the lamina having a mass mt then the
translational component of aM in Eq. 9 is given by Eq. 11.

Fig. 13.

Various accelerations on the blade elements.

Let the points M 1 and M 2 move in the radius of circles r1

P1

and r2 respectively. Then the net acceleration for a particular

situation shown in Fig. 14 as bold vectors. The circular
trajectories traversed by these M-points are named M circles.
aM 1,n
a path ,t
aPP1,1, path
,n
acor
aM ,trans

r1

aM 1,t

C
M1

P1

r2

C.G

aP1

E2

aP1, path ,t
aP1, path , n
a acor

acor aM ,trans
aP 2, path ,n
a
aP 2, path ,t M 2,n
aP2
M2

aM 2,t

a2

acor

aP 2, path ,n
aP 2, path ,t
Fig. 15.

P2

The specific couple made by

a1 and a2 .

P2

The component aM ,r is dependent upon the values of b , b

i

and ri as given by Eq. 14.

E1
Fig. 14.

aM i , n rib

Net Accelerations of the blade elements.

aM i ,t ri b

In general for any point Pi

aM 1,t

aPi aM i ,ri aM ,trans ai

= aM ,t aM ,n aM ,trans acor aP , path , n aP , path ,t

i

aM 1,n

Here ai remains the same for any two opposite points Pi

on the propeller for any circular displacement of the propeller
during its rotation and for any value of . The accelerations

aM 2, n

aM 2,t

a1 and a2 always make a specific couple as shown in the Fig.

15. The couple keeps rotating with the propeller however the
angle remain the same. For 0 , the perfect cancellation of
this couple takes place.

Fig. 16.

Example of a figure caption.

If we consider the points C .G.(0, 0) and C ( x, y ) as shown

in the Fig. 16 then the point Pi can be expressed by Eq. 15 and
ri is given by Eq. 16.
P1 ( x cos(v ), y sin(v ))
P2 ( x cos(v ), y sin(v ))

r1

( x cos(v )) (y sin(v ))

r2

( x cos(v )) (y sin(v ))

P1 ( a cos( ), b sin( ))

r1

C(x,y)

C.G(0,0)

a
A

r2
P2 (a cos( ), b sin( ))

E1

Fig. 19.
Fig. 17.

Variation of ri with

Example of a figure caption.

The simulation results for the values of ri with fixed v and

varying are shown in Fig. 18.

The force F3 can be decomposed into rectangular

components in E2 E3 plane as shown in Fig. 20.

Fig. 20.

Components of F3 in E 2 E3 -plane.

The component of the force F3 parallel to E2 -axis may

cause acceleration or deceleration of the body of the craft along
yaw axis during imbalance conditions. If we denote the net
imbalance accelerating of decelerating force by Fa tan and
Fd tan respectively, then an example situation is shown in Fig. 21
Fig. 18.

Variation of ri with

The simulation results for the values of ri with fixed and

varying v are shown in Fig. 18.

indicating the resultant radial and tangential accelerations

produced in the body of the craft, given by Eq. 17 and Eq. 18
respectively.

a tan r b

a rad b 2 r

The radial component is balanced by the centripetal

acceleration ac while the tangential component causes a yaw in
the structure.

Fatan

Fdtan

Tail Rotor

Tail rotor orbit

of rotation (large)

rm

Mian rotor orbit

of rotation(small)

rt

C.G.

Main Rotors
M

M
arad

dtan

b
ac

Fig. 21.

atan

If we consider the rotors as point masses then the

2
centripetal force Fr mb for the three rotor balance out
during steady state. However under imbalance conditions with
non-zero transient yaw rate, a net force may exist, for instance
if the subscript ' m ' and ' t ' denote the centripetal forces of the
main and the tail rotors respectively then for a particular
scenario the force vector diagram is shown in Fig. 22.

Angular accelerations of the body of the craft.

Fig. 23.

The trajectory of the body of the craft due to a net imbalance force

IV.

CONSLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK

Nonlinear parasitic effects have been modelled. Parasitic

accelerations terms were investigated. Future research involves
investigation of parasitic moment terms.

REFERENCES

Fm,r sin

Fm,r

Fm,r sin
2 Fm,r cos

Fm,r

Ft ,r
Fig. 22.

The centripetal force diagram of the body of the craft

The motion of the body of the craft in response to a net

persistent imbalance force of Fig. 22 along with the imbalance
acceleration in Fig. 21 is indicated by the trajectory followed
by some point ' e ' in Fig. 23.

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