Experimental Estimation of Inertia Tensor and Centre of Gravity of a Mini Helicopter

Abstract

This paper describes the experimental estimation of the mini-helicopter inertia and center of gravity (CG) location. A three degree of freedom inertia test rig and an Inertia Measurement Unit (IMU) were used to measure the oscillation frequencies about three axes under different configurations. These frequency data are then manipulated to estimate the inertia tensor and CG location of the mini-helicopter model.