Simulating a 2D Quadcopter from Scratch

(mrandri19.github.io)

14 points | by daww 2 days ago

2 comments

  • daww 2 days ago
    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!

    • avidiax 1 hour ago
      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.
    • dvh 1 hour ago
      Isn't it just bi-copter?
      • palata 24 minutes ago
        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.
  • kabir_daki 1 hour ago
    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.
    • andai 44 minutes ago
      Your voice betrays you, Claude!