Wall Effect evaluation of small quadcopters in pressure-controlled environments

Multicopters are used for a wide range of applications that often involve approaching buildings or navigating enclosed spaces. Opposed to the freedom found in outdoor flights, indoor UAVs navigating close to surfaces must take into account the airflow variations caused by its rebound and identify them as disturbances to be compensated. A custom made quadcopter has been built for the evaluation of wall effect in climate controlled environments. Two different propeller sizes have been considered for testing.Climate variations consisting in changes of pressure, from 1000 mbar up to the equivalent pressure attained at 5000 m. A fixed 6DOF load cell has been used for the experiments, being able to log forces and moments in three orthogonal axes. The tests simulate a hovering UAV at different wall distances. The influence of the propeller size and air density on the wall effect has been also measured. Experimental data will be used for the definition of a mathematical model, in which the wall effect is considered.