Modeling and Simulation of Quadcopter X-Configuration Position Control Using PID Controller

Quadcopters are increasingly popular on UAV platforms in both the control community due to their complex dynamics and a lot of potential in outdoor applications because of their advantages over regular aerial vehicles. This paper presents the mathematical modeling of a simple quadcopter that comes with X-configuration and simulation of its desired position with MATLAB. A Proportional-In-tegral-Derivative (PID) controller is designed for position control and attitude stabilization of the quad-copter. Due to the underactuated property of the quadcopter, this PID controller can move the vehicle in three positions and the yaw angle to the desired values and stabilize the pitch and roll angles. The performance and robustness of the controller are evaluated by simulation with MATLAB and Simulink and the results demonstrate the effectiveness and quality of PID control for positioning control of quad-copter.