Development of a Drone Test Bench with a High-Precision Directional Force Measurement System for the Isolation of Thrust Forces of Individual Propellers of a Quadcopter

Abstract

This paper presents the development of a directional force measurement system designed to evaluate the thrust of individual propellers on a quadcopter during flight. This direction of study was primarily motivated by the need to create a high-precision force measurement system, with the aim of paving the way for robust development and advancement of the local Unmanned Aerial Vehicles industry. Among its major features is its ability to successfully isolate measured forces of the combined quadcopter’s propellers into individual propeller thrusts. To achieve this, the developed directional force measurement system encompasses an integrated system of four cross-force sensors. The separate readings of the four sensors, through a model derived from repeated calibration of the system, firstly, with known weights, and eventually a quadcopter in yaw, roll, pitch, and hover motions, yield the respective thrust values of each propeller. The system was installed on its designated frame and, in synergy with an accelerometer and a microcontroller, formed a physical drone test bed. This then facilitated the successful measurement of the forces generated by individual propellers. Data visualisation and collection were made possible via a website and a cloud   database system, respectively, both in direct communication with the microcontroller and the sensors. The test data was then extracted and utilised to validate the model created.