11. Applications and Implications¶
This week I worked on a detailed documentation and planning for the final project.
Sketching the Idea¶
Basically, my final project will be a drone including a custom remote to steer it.
The purpose of the drone and remote is that I want them to be as easy-to-control as possible.
Similar Projects¶
Of course, I’m not the first one who is working on a drone in the range of their FabAcademy final project.
Daniele Ingrassia - who is an instructor in my local FabLab in Kamp-Lintfort, Germany, did a lot of great projects concerning drones and drone electronics during his FabAcademy.
As well as Daniele, multiple other students laid their hands on drones or other remote-controlled vehicles, which are a good inspiration for me on how to implement it.
I’ve taken a look at some commercial drones that are made rather for children HERE, to get some inspiration in design and functionality.
In general, the project should not be too hard to realize. I will start with the remote to have the easier task first, this way I can enhance my knowledge to be ready to work on and design the drone.
I will try to realize the whole Project using FreeCAD, KiCAD and other open-source tools and to make it as easy and ceapas possible to recreate my project.
The Remote¶
Description¶
Let’s start with the remote. It has to be able to at least do the following operations:
Firstly, the control of the drone. It has to be able to move on the XY plane without having to rotate it. This function should be covered with the left directional pad.
The second directional pad on the right side is to control the altitude (Up and Down), as well as to rotate the drone on its Z axis.
To make the opperation as simple as possible, the directional pads will be realized as simple buttons. This way, it is harder for the user to fly the drone into an obstacle at high speeds. The drone is not supposed to be able to reach high speeds, anyways.
Furthermore, the remote will have a button to start and stop the drone. The aim here is, to make the drone float smoothly and to make it land safely with the click of a button.
Lastly, the remote needs to have a switch for turning the remote itself on and off.
Eventually, there will be a function to swap between single- and multi-input operation, single-input meaning there can only be one command sent at a time to prevent mistakes while operating the drone.
In addition to that, the remote needs to communicate with the drone. Therefore, some kind of transceiver is necessary. For example, I found the Single chip 2.4 GHz Transceiver “nRF24L01” seemed to be a good choice including an antenna, but I will keep researching for more possibilities.
Electronics needed for the remote:
- Directional Pad: 4 buttons (x2)
- Start/Stop Drone: 1 button
- Remote On/Off: 1 switch
- Switch Input Mode: 1 switch
- Transceiver: 1 module
I will do my best to create the case for the remote with the lasercutter. I’m thinking of measurements of about 110 x 50 x 10 mm. Transparent acrylic may give it a nice look, too!
Additionally, I want to 3d-print the digital pads and other buttons needed.
Just another simple sketch.
3D Design¶
The case for the remote will be designed in FreeCAD.
It will consist of 6 parts only, using simple joints to guarantee stability.
I will use parametric design to be able to adapt to possible changes.
Bottom:¶
Top:¶
The top side contains holes for the digital pad and button.
Sides (short):¶
Sides (long):¶
The top side has holes each for an antenna (if needed) and a switch to turn it on and off.
3D Model¶
In the above model you can see the full case including the digital pads and a button that will be 3D-printed later on.
The case will be produced with help of the lasercutter. 3mm Acrilyc is the material I want to use, to create a nice transparent case, but I want to test the case with different material, too.
Electronics Design¶
For the electronics, I start by making a list of components I need:
-
ATMEGA328P (I am not yet sure which format of the chip I want to use, it’ll depend on the final design)
-
FT232BL
After I know the parts I want to use, I have to create the schematics for the PCB I want to make. Therefore, I will try to use easyeda.com.
Here I can login with an existing Google-email address or create a new accountand start immediately.
The webtool is very easy to use. I click “create Project”, name it as I want to and start with the schematics.
I now add the parts I want to my schematic and connect them as I know from other design tools.
As soon as I am done with the schematics, I click “convert to PCB”.
Now I can place the parts like I want to.
Embedded Programming¶
For the embedded programming, I need to …
The Drone¶
Description¶
Once again, the drone should be optimized for indoor use and has to be as easy-to-control as possible.
Therefore