Using MapleSim in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Models Provides Insights and Options Not Possible with Traditional Tools

MapleSim™, Maplesoft’s modeling and simulation product, is a key tool for Quanser design engineers in developing the QBall. The QBall-X4 is a quadrotor helicopter design with four motors and speed controllers fitted with 10-inch propellers. The first step in its development was to create high-fidelity 3-D dynamics models of the system and its flying characteristics. The results and insights gained through using MapleSim were then transferred to the remaining toolchain to complete the development.

MapleSim gave Quanser engineers two significant advantages over traditional tools. The most important benefit to using MapleSim was its ability to fully capture the dynamics of the gyroscopic effects, the stabilizing effects of the spinning parts of the QBall. With traditional tools, gyroscopic effects are extremely difficult or impossible to treat, as developing sufficiently high fidelity models by hand is simply too difficult and too time consuming. Typically, design engineers resort to making various model simplifications or compromises for the model; ultimately, this reduces the accuracy and effectiveness of the simulation process. Since MapleSim automatically derives the system equations directly from the model diagram, the Quanser engineers developed a very high fidelity model with gyroscopic effects in very little time and with little effort.

Secondly, because it was so easy to make design changes in the MapleSim physical modeling environment, Quanser was able to test different designs for the rotors and choose the one that worked the best for them. MapleSim let them efficiently consider and dismiss alternate UAV configurations, such as single rotor, or coaxial counter rotating propeller configuration, before settling on the quadricopter design.

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