An Open-Source, Low-Cost UAV Testbench for Educational Purposes

This paper presents a low-cost, open source UAV testbench, developed with affordable materials and based on Arduino and Matlab. The project aims to develop a testbench that simulates the roll angle behavior of an UAV, using only standard components and straightforward fabrication, aiming its use for educational purposes. This testbench is composed by a structure with 1 DoF of rotation, which represents the UAV, and by two brushless motors installed in the structure, which allow to control the roll angle. The platform controller is developed in Arduino, which communicates in real time with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) developed in Matlab to change angle references, control modes or controller gains. The project also includes a Matlab-Simulink model of the testbench, allowing a preliminary analysis through simulations of the different controllers designed. The proposed testbench can be helpful for introducing multirotor control to students. This paper presents the development of this testbench, as well as its validation for different controllers.