Implementação de um controlador proporcional integral derivativo via arduino para a limitação da potência de um motor elétrico sem escovas no contexto de aerodesign

Abstract

This work presents the development and validation of an embedded control system designed for the active limitation of electrical power in brushless motors used in aircraft participating in the SAE Brazil Aerodesign competition. The project aimed to design and implement a proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller capable of maintaining the instantaneous motor power within the limit imposed by the regulations, ensuring stability, efficiency, and compliance under real operating conditions. The proposed approach was based on a hybrid tuning methodology that combines the analytical Root Locus method—used to define the desired system dynamics—with the empirical Ziegler–Nichols method, applied to refine the controller gains. This approach allowed the combination of theoretical rigor and experimental adjustment, resulting in a control system adapted to the actual characteristics of the electrical plant and to the temporal and computational constraints of the embedded platform. The system hardware was implemented on the Arduino Nano platform, integrating analog current and voltage sensors (ACS758 and a calibrated resistive divider), responsible for measuring the electrical variables that compose the instantaneous power. From these readings, the PID controller acts on the command signal sent to the electronic speed controller (ESC), regulating the power delivered to the motor in real time. Bench tests demonstrated the stable operation of the system and confirmed that the designed controller is capable of limiting the electrical power within the specified reference value, even underload variations and battery voltage fluctuations. It was verified that the algorithm presents a smooth, coherent, and numerically stable response, complying with the discretization criteria and PWM communication constraints of the embedded setup. The obtained results confirm the technical feasibility of applying discrete PID controllers in embedded electric propulsion systems, provided that fundamental aspects of discretization, filtering, and electrical integrity are observed. The integration of mathematical modeling, experimental testing, and iterative tuning proved to be an efficient strategy for developing control systems under dynamic uncertainties.