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3 DOF Hover

Study quadrotor attitude dynamics on a fixed laboratory rig.

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Four motors · three angular outputs

What the system does

Four DC motors drive propellers on a frame supported by a three-axis pivot. Differential thrust and reaction torque control roll, pitch, and yaw. This is an attitude-control rig: it rotates about its support and does not perform free-flight translation.

Inputs & outputs

Four motor-voltage inputs and three measured orientation outputs. A control-allocation step maps requested body torques to motor commands.

3 DOF Hover product photograph supplied by Quanser
Product photograph and technical source: Quanser 3 DOF Hover ↗

Inside the experiment

ComponentRole in the system
ActuationFour independently driven DC motors; counter-rotating propeller pairs.
SensingThree optical encoders measure roll, pitch, and yaw. A slip ring permits continuous yaw rotation.
InterfaceExternal VoltPAQ-X4 amplifier and compatible external DAQ. Quanser lists Q8-USB or QPIDe workstation options.
SoftwareMATLAB/Simulink and QUARC. Confirm the installed DAQ and any Python/HIL development plan with the lab team.
Annotated 3 DOF Hover figure showing propeller shields, motors, and angular measurement components
3 DOF Hover components. Figure reproduced from AVRC’s laboratory equipment report. View full-size figure · Manufacturer documentation

Build understanding through evidence

Suggested AVRC learning activities. Use the linked manufacturer procedure and the instructor’s approved setup for the actual experiment.

A practical learning sequence

  1. Identify the external DAQ, amplifier channels, encoder channels, and approved wiring from the workstation manual.
  2. Establish the angle conventions and use the supplied initialization procedure.
  3. Compare an approved attitude controller with a baseline; report response, coupling, and actuator limits.

Teaching, outreach & research

  • Teaching: rigid-body attitude, control allocation, and MIMO feedback.
  • Outreach: relate balanced rotor forces to orientation.
  • Research question: how can an attitude controller tolerate disturbances or actuator mismatch?

Go directly to the source

Official manuals and resources may have their own licensing or sign-in requirements. Use material for the exact platform generation and software release.

MATLAB, Python & QLabs setupTechnical video libraryResearch reading & examples

Prepare before operating.

Complete lab orientation and platform-specific training. Coordinate the experiment with the AVRC team in B20, Mackey Building.

Safety & access

All equipment · Faculty course integration