Disturbance estimation and disturbance suppression control using intelligent amplifier for multi-copter

Currently, multi-copters are used in various applications. However, general multi-copters tend to be directly affected by airflow because they have fixed-pitch rotors. Although a multi-copter with variable-pitch rotors has been developed, it weighs more and costs more. Therefore, this paper proposes a method for treating a motor as a sensor, thereby enabling estimation of wind disturbance and control of its suppression without installing any sensors. The paper first describes an intelligent amplifier equipped with a disturbance observer that estimates wind disturbance from a motor's rotational speed. Then, it describes an experiment that proved the validity of the disturbance observer. In addition, it describes an experiment that included the amplifier in a multi-copter with a flight controller to suppress wind disturbance in an actual flying multi-copter. These experiments confirmed the validity of the disturbance observer and confirmed that a multi-copter equipped with intelligent amplifiers can be controlled to suppress wind disturbance.