Simulating a 2D Quadcopter from Scratch
19 points
by daww
2 days ago
| 2 comments
| mrandri19.github.io
| HN
daww
2 days ago
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Author here.

I've spent the last six months replicating the paper "Champion-level drone racing using deep reinforcement learning" and now I'm writing down the blog posts I wish I had along the way.

Any feedback is welcome, especially as I'm a bit unsure if I struck the right balance between being concise and not requiring too many prerequisites.

Also if you're working on RL and robotics (especially aerial), let's connect!

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avidiax
2 hours ago
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I assume you are going to start introducing all the 2nd and 3rd order effects? One big one is ground effect, and another is vortex ring state/settling with power and the related translational lift, and the props themselves have p-factor and the dirty air effect for the rear props.
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quibono
54 minutes ago
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Are there any resources you know of on modelling ground effect? I’m curious how this would change the dynamics from the post.
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dvh
3 hours ago
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Isn't it just bi-copter?
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palata
2 hours ago
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No, it's a quadcopter setup, but simulated in a 2D world (I guess for simplicity). A bi-copter would require tiltrotors, which is different.
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echoangle
1 hour ago
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In 2D, a bi-rotor is equivalent to the quadcopter in the post. There are 2 thrusts you control to guide the thing.
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kabir_daki
3 hours ago
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Physics simulations from scratch are great learning projects. Did you implement your own PID controller for stabilization? That's usually where things get interesting — tuning the gains without it oscillating to death.
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andai
2 hours ago
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Your voice betrays you, Claude!
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