Experimental study on the influence of controller firmware on multirotor actuator dynamics
In this paper the dynamic response of a propeller actuator commonly used in hobby unmanned aerial vehicles is studied experimentally. It is shown that the choice of electronic speed controller firmware has a significant effect on the overall actuator dynamics. Six different scenarios are tested: 1+2) Rising/falling step response with the standard firmware of the Hobbyking F30a, 3+4) Rising/falling step response with firmware from Simon Kirby/GitHub and 5+6) Rising/falling step response with firmware from Simon Kirby/GitHub including complementary Pulse-Width-Modulation (PWM) switching. Experimental results show a significant difference in actuator dynamics depending on the chosen firmware. …