Syed M Raza

Custom Drone Project

Full PDF Report

Brief Summary:

Tasked with constructing a drone that must autonomously fly using a microcomputer, our group first sought to make an initial design that would be both modular and efficient. After revision processes, a final design was reached that accomplished both of these goals and could be successfully constructed with a 3D printer. Our group then turned its attention to functionality, with us first considering the positioning of the components necessary for flight, then focusing on wiring the components into a single system. With our design finished, our group turned its attention to coding the microcomputer to establish a system of logic that would allow for autonomous flight.

Design Considerations:

  •  4 brushed 8.5x20mm electric motors

  •  4 55mm drone propellers

  • 1 Arduino nano

  •  1 Sonic ranger

  • 1 Flight controller/Gyroscopic stabilizer

  •  1 Battery

  •   Associated wires

Solidworks Design:

Circuitry: Planning and Components

Upon completing a final design for our drone, we focused our attention on circuitry. Our system must integrate the functions of a sonic ranger, gyroscope/IMU, and Arduino into one whole system. In order to achieve our goal of integrating these systems, we began soldering our Arduino board to open access to all of the pins. After this, we connected our IMU into the main port of the Arduino and wired the sonic ranger through the second port in the IMU. These functions can be simultaneously delivered into the Arduino

This in total ended up using about twenty separate wires, resulting in an issue of where to fit everything. Our group ran wires along the sides of the central housing, connecting them with tape, and we stored our excess wiring above the central housing so as to not interfere with the propellers.