Development of test rig for quadrotor flight testing inside wind tunnel using motion capture system

The study of station keeping of a hovering quadrotor under various turbulent wind conditions has gained a lot of attention these days due to its potential application in complex environments. Different kind of control algorithm has been developed to increase the performance of the quadrotor under such wind condition and need to be tested and verified by actually flying the quadcopter itself. One of the quick and lowcost solution would be to set up a test rig by modifying an existing wind tunnel to recreate such wind conditions. By attaching the open jet wind tunnel which has a diverged shape integrated with Settling Chamber, a new flight space with turbulence wind flow constructed. The maximum wind speed at the opening is 8 m/s. The extended wind tunnel’s flow characteristics are analyzed by the anemometer for velocity distribution in four different distances from the opening Augmented with Motion Capture System provide real time pose and velocity information of quadrotor hovering at rate of 120Hz. Quadrotor flight performance been tested indoor lab and new flight space of UPM wind tunnel either with and without wind rejection algorithm. Maintaining hovering in constant position in turbulence wind condition can be endured by utilize existing Extended High Gain Observer (EHGO) as wind rejection algorithm. The replicate real world turbulence wind is measured and wind profile recorded. The wind rejection algorithm measure real time tracking quadrotor hovering been showing rare data in turbulence wind. This test rig will be unique capability in creating turbulence wind condition for flight test of quadrotor hovering embedded existing wind rejection algorithm.