Specifications

1. Presentation
The Quanser 2DOF Helicopter, shown in Figure 2, consists of a helicopter model mounted on a fixed base with two
propellers that are driven by DC motors. The front propeller controls the elevation of the helicopter nose about the
pitch axis and the back propeller controls the side to side motions of the helicopter about the yaw axis. The pitch
and yaw angles are measured using high-resolution encoders. The pitch encoder and motor signals are transmitted
via a slip ring. This eliminates the possibility of wires tangling on the yaw axis and allows the yaw angle to rotate
freely about 360 degrees.
Figure 1: Quanser 2DOF Helicopter
In Section 2 the components composing the 2DOF Helicopter are described and the system specifications are given.
Section 3 explains how to setup the system and gives the wiring procedure.
2. System Description
2.1 Components
Section 2.1.1 lists the components on the 2DOF Helicopter plant and 2.2 summarizes the system specfications.
2.1.1 2DOF Helicopter Overall Components
The components comprising the 2DOF Helicopter system are labeled in Figure 2, are described in Table 1. The
motors, propeller assemblies, and encoders are described in more detail below.