Sensors for Mini - UAV
Rajesh H
Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering
IV B.TECH
Amrita School of Engineering
Coimbatore
Abstract – There has been rapid improvements in Sensor
Technology in recent days, which had made miniature
flying robots fully possible. This Paper speaks about the
various types of sensors needed in mini - UAV
(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and also tells why a
particular sensor is needed and their basic working.
This paper also provides information about some of the
various commercially available sensors that can be
installed in Mini – UAV.
I. INTRODUCTION
An UAV is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle which
doesn’t require an on-board pilot. The prefix mini is
used as the system or vehicle is very small is size. An
example of such an UAV is shown in Fig.1
Fig. 1
As UAV like Quad Rotor1 is an aerial vehicle with
six degrees of freedom, it requires various control
actions to be taken to properly maneuver and keep
the craft in a required flight condition. Whenever
there is a need for control action, then there is a need
for sensors to measure the control variables. Thus,
1
Quad Rotor UAV is my present project
this paper provides the required information
regarding sensors by providing the list of major
sensors needed in section II, need of each sensor in
section III, basic working of each sensor in
Section IV and few commercially available sensors in
section V.
II. LIST OF MAJOR SENSORS
• Accelerometer
• Rate Gyros
• SONAR
• GPS Receiver
III. NEED FOR A PARTICULAR SENSOR
The six degrees of freedom of any flying
robot are movement along three axis (X, Y, and Z)
and rotation about three axes. To control these six
degrees of freedom, we need some kind of
measurement of changes in each degree of freedom.
The three degrees of freedom, namely translational
motion along each axis can be controlled by
measuring the acceleration along each axis,
respectively. For this measurement of acceleration
along an axis, accelerometer can be used. The rest of
the three degrees of freedom, namely rotational
motion about each axis can be controlled by
measuring the acceleration about each axis. For this
measurement of acceleration about each axis, Rate
Gyros can be used. This Para can be easily
understood from Fig.2 and from a typical example
in Fig.3
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Apart from the sensors for controlling these six
degrees of freedom of a flying robot, there will be
need of sensors for obstacle avoidance and to know
where the Robot is located on Earth at any instant.
Obstacles can be avoided by detecting whether any
obstacle is present at a particular distance from robot,
using SONAR. The exact robot’s location on earth
can be found using GPS Receiver onboard.
IV. BASIC WORKING OF EACH SENSOR
Accelerometer
Accelerometers are sensors and instruments
used for measuring acceleration and vibration.
Accelerometers are based on properties of rotating
masses. The most common design is based on a
combination of Newton’s law of mass acceleration
and Hooke’s law of spring action, as in Fig.4.
Fig. 4
Rate Gyro
Rate Gyros are sensors used to sense the
angular rate of turn about some defined axis. In many
cases, where a geomagnetic field is either absent (in
space) or is altered by the presence of some
disturbances, a gyroscope is an indispensable sensor
for defining the position of a vehicle. A gyro
operation is based on the fundamental principle of the
conservation of angular momentum: In any system of
particles, the total angular momentum of the system
relative to any point fixed in space remains constant
provided no external forces act on the system.
SONAR
SONAR is the acronym of SOund Navigation
And Ranging, which identifies a sensor capable of
measuring a distance through ultrasound waves. It
composed of two ultrasound capsules. These two
capsules are transducers which convert ultrasonic
waves into electrical signals and vice versa. One
capsule is used for the wave transmission while the
other one for the wave reception.
GPS Receiver
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a
worldwide radio-navigation system formed from a
constellation of 24 satellites and their ground
stations. GPS is the only system today able to show
exact position on the Earth anytime, in any weather,
anywhere. GPS satellites orbit at 11,000 nautical
miles above the Earth. They are continuously
monitored by ground stations located worldwide. The
satellites transmit signals that can be detected by
anyone with a GPS receiver. Using the receiver,
anyone can determine their location with great
precision.
V. COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE SENSORS
 Accelerometer (Analog devices)
Gyroscope (Silicon sensing)

Accelerometer- ADXL203 (ruler is in

centimeters)
Gyroscope (Silicon Sensing)

Accelerometer (Memsic)
Gyroscope - ADXRS150EB (ruler in
centimeter)

Gyroscope (Murata)

SRF08 SONAR (Devantech)

 Silicon CRS02c Single axis angular
sensing rate sensor

low cost, dual-axis

memsic MX2125 thermal
accelerometer

CONCLUSION

This paper described about most needed sensors for

Mini – UAV and their importance in Mini – UAV.
Also, various sensors which are commercially
available and suitable for using On-board in Mini –
UAV are explored.

IMU (Inertial Measuring Unit)
List of Available Sensors
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like thank Dr. Radhamani Pillai, Former
Senior Lecturer in Amrita University, Coimbatore,
who inspired and helped me to do Quad Rotor UAV
as one of my academic projects. I would also like to
thank Mr. J.Chandrasekaran, Head of Aerospace
Department, Amrita University, Coimbatore, who is
guiding me in Project on Quad Rotor UAV.

Analog ADXL203EB Dual Axis REFERENCES

Devices Accelerometer
[1] Pedro Castillo, Rogelio Lozano and Alejandro E. Dzul,
“Modeling and Control of Mini-Flying Machines”, Advances in
Industrial Control, Springer, 2005.
Analog ADXL202 Dual Axis [2] Jacob Fraden, “Handbook of Modern Sensors: Physics,
Devices Accelerometer Designs, and Applications”, 3rd ed., Springer, 2003.
[3] Samir Bouabdallah, Marcelo Becker, Vincent de Perrot, and
Roland Siegwart, “Toward Obstacle Avoidance on Quadrotors”,
Proceedings of the XII International Symposium on Dynamic
Analog ADXL311 Dual Axis Problems of Mechanics, 2007.
Devices Accelerometer [4] Kimon P.Valavanis, “Advances in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
– State of the Art and the Road to Autonomy”, International Series
on Intelligent Systems, Control, and Automation: Science and
Engineering, Springer, vol 33, 2007.
Analog ADXRS300ABG 300deg/s single chip [5] www.rctoys.com
Devices rate gyro [6] www.honeywell.com
[7] www.memsic.com
[8] www.siliconsensing.com
[9] www.analog.com
Analog ADXRS150ABG 150 deg./sec. [10] www.microstrain.com
Devices angular rate sensor

Murata ENC 03 Angular rate gyro

Silicon CRS04c Single axis angular

sensing rate sensor