Week 08 · overview
Week 08: Control Loops and Autopilot Behavior
This week, you will build control-loop explanation trace for a bounded Drone Engineering scenario. The work stays in classroom-safe analysis, supplied evidence, simulation, planning, and documentation. It does not authorize real flight or unsupervised hardware work.
The engineering problem
A simulated altitude hold overshoots the target height and then oscillates.
The core idea is that autopilot is not magic. It is feedback, measurement, correction, and limits. Students will connect that idea to a controller compares a target state to sensor feedback, computes an error, sends a correction, and repeats the loop.
Evidence you keep
| Sequence | Evidence artifact |
|---|---|
| Lesson 1 | Mechanism explanation and first evidence table |
| Lesson 2 | Boundary note and no-go or revision condition |
| Lesson 3 | Review-ready decision table |
| Flight Log | Control-loop explanation trace with limitation statement |
Vocabulary and decision lens
Important language this week includes: system boundary, evidence, limitation, no-go condition, revision rule, and control loops and autopilot behavior.
Decision lens: change one control assumption at a time and explain whether the evidence shows under-correction, over-correction, or delay.
Approximate time: 3 to 4 class periods, about 160 to 200 minutes of reading, analysis, evidence writing, and review.