Identification of quadrotor aerodynamic model from high speed flight data

In order to fill the gap of knowledge about the aerodynamic effects of a quadrotor in aggressive flight conditions, identification of the aerodynamic forces and moments occurring during high speed flight are performed. A gray-box model is established as a mapping from states, rotor speeds to resultant forces and moments. Prior knowledge about quadrotor aerodynamics together with a stepwise regressor selector is applied to identify the model structure. Data for this research is obtained from free flight tests in the Open Jet Facility (wind tunnel) of the TU Delft, with wind speeds up to 14m/s. State information is inferred from inertial on-board sensors and Motion Capture cameras. Moments produced by aerodynamic effects have been observed and precisely modeled. During validation, the new model showed superior prediction performance when compared to current models that neglect fast flight aerodynamic effects.