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QUADCOPTER SIMULATION

June 2020 - August 2020

To assess how well a simulation software, Webots, would work for the Northwestern University Space Technology and Rocketry Society (NUSTARS), a teammate and I spent a summer testing it out with a quadcopter. We simulated the quadcopter's behavior and compared that to real life.

MY ROLE

  • Modeled complex components and assemblies (Siemens NX)

  • Explored the use of surfaces in CAD models (Siemens NX)

  • Learned/reviewed flight concepts such as lift and thrust

  • Identified physical relationships between the quadcopter's features and its behavior (e.g., propeller speed and quadcopter movement)

  • Completed Webots tutorials to become familiar with the software

  • Compared software advantages and disadvantages

RESULTS

  • Webots did not meet NUSTARS' simulation needs

  • Its documentation wasn't clear enough to simulate the complex physics involved in robot flight ​

  • Importing CAD overcomplicated the process of establishing robot nodes

  • The software was slow and frequently crashed​​

  • While you could choose between Python, C, and C++ for the controller, documentation available for Python controllers was limited

IMAGES

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