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MANUAL
SPRING SEMESTER REPORT
Indoor Quad-rotor Control
M.E. Team Number 01
Members:
ECE DEPARTMENT:
Jigar Patel: Team Leader
John Chung: Software/Hardware Engineer
Matthew Kishe: Team Webmaster/Test Engineer
ME DEPARTMENT:
Adam Sobiewski: Team Leader/Treasurer
Andrew Silva: Sponsor Liaison
Gabriel Morales: Mechanical Engineer
SPONSOR
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE
JABIL ELECTRONICS
Contents
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Troubleshooting ...................................................................................................................................... 9
VI.
VII.
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Propeller Guard.............................................................................................................................. 2
Figure 2: Support Arm.................................................................................................................................... 2
Figure 3: Protective housing ......................................................................................................................... 3
Figure 4: Landing gear and motor assembly ............................................................................................ 4
Figure 5: Main frame Assembly1 .................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 6: X-frame Configuration1 ................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 7: PDB mounting1 ............................................................................................................................... 5
Figure 8: ESC cable connections1 ............................................................................................................... 6
Figure 9: PX4 mounted onto the bottom of the frame ............................................................................ 6
Figure 10: Cable connection for hardware .............................................................................................. 7
Figure 11: QGC PX4FMU CONFIG/SCAN Screenshot ............................................................................... 8
Figure 12: Installation instructions for protective housing. ....................................................................... 9
Page 1 of 11
I.
Function Analysis
The protective housing is comprised of eight (8) total parts consisting of four (4) support arms
and four (4) propeller guards, both shown below. The propeller guards enclose each motor
assembly to prevent it from coming into contact with any obstacle in the event of a crash.
The propeller guards are connected to the main quadcopter frame via support arms. The
support arms are designed to transfer the load from the propeller guard through the center
of mass of the quadcopter.
FIGURE 2: S UPPORT A RM
II.
Project Specifications
The protective housing shown below is expected to withstand any indoor obstacle impact or
crash resulting from flight failure to prevent damage to any of the quadcopters
components. In addition, the added weight of the protective housing is not likely to
decrease flight time by a substantial amount.
Page 2 of 11
III.
Operation Procedures
Hardware Assembly
3DR provides a well described guide for the hardware assembly of the quadcopter. This
manual can be found at the following link. The following are used in the assembly of the
quadcopter:
2 fiberglass plates
1 fiberglass PX4
4 880kV motors
PX4FMU
PX4IO
Page 3 of 11
PX4FLOW
Telemetry Module
Refer to the site for detailed instructions on how to unbox and assemble a quadcopter.
Below are a summary of the steps for putting together the quadcopter.
a. Start with putting together the landing gear onto the arms with spacers in between
the legs, do this for all four arms (See Figure 4)
Parts used:
o Two M3X25mm screw (green)
o Two M3 metal washer (pink)
o Two M3X18mm spacers
o Four M3X5mm screws (blue)
b. Mount the motors onto the end of the arm. Insert the motor cables into the side of
the arm, do this for all four arms (See Figure 4)
Parts used:
o Two M3X5mm screws (blue)
o Two M3 lock washers (orange)
Page 4 of 11
e. Connect the ESC cables to the respective motor cables. See Figure 8 to obtain the
correct directions for the motors. Directions are shown in Figure 6.
NOTE: Do not secure the ESCs until the directions have been verified (this step is
explained in the next section)
Page 5 of 11
Mount the PX4FMU and PX4IO onto a plate and use spacers to attach it to the
bottom plate.
OF THE FRAME
g. Use double sided tape or Velcro to stick the RC receiver, and telemetry receiver onto
the top of the copter and use M3X8mm nylon screws to mount the PX4FLOW onto the
bottom of the accessory plate.
h. Use the figure below to make all the cable connections to the PX4FMU/IO board (See
Page 6 of 11
HARDWARE 2
Once all the components are correctly connected move to the firmware section to
flash the firmware.
Firmware
This section talks about setting up the PX4FMU along with the carrier PX4IO board. Make sure
you have an empty Micro SD card. First step is to install the firmware using QGroundControl
(QGC).
a. QGroundControl (QGC) Software
Download the most recent version of QGroundControl which can be downloaded
by clicking here and then follow these steps to get ready for your first flight
b. PX4FMU Firmware
In QGC click on the CONFIG then on the big green SCAN button. Click on the
flash/upgrade firmware button to load the firmware onto the PX4FMU.
RC Calibration
After the sensors are calibrated, the remote controller (RC) needs to be calibrated to
set the min and max values for the RC inputs. This is done by clicking on the RC
CALIBRATION button from the left toolbar and following instructions.
Page 8 of 11
IV.
V.
Troubleshooting
Most of the troubleshooting requires research since there are many stages at which
troubleshooting may occur. Primary sites referred to were the manufactures sites. (i.e. PX4,
3DR etc.)
VI.
Future Repair/Replacement
This section talks about the future repairs and replacements which are specific to the future
goals of the project. Major code modifications and replacements are anticipated to
implement the Velocity based flight control. This involves modifications to the PX4 firmware.
Specific files that need to be modified are listed below:
The multirotor velocity controller folder contains the source code that needs
modifications to implement the velocity controller. (Filename:
mc_vel_control_main.cpp)
The PX4 depends on a RC script file to initialize all the sensors, IO board, Inter Process
Communication (IPC), PX4 Flow, MavLink (communication protocols) and the
controller module. This file needs to be updated onto the SD card for the initialization.
The PX4 also requires configuration to set the controller to recognize the vehicle type,
and to set the parameters to be used by the quadcopter. i.e PWM cutoff frequencies.
Page 9 of 11
In addition to the controls listed above, spare parts for each component of the protective
housing will be fabricated in case of failure of one piece. The parts were designed to be
easily interchangeable if a piece were to fracture. Prior to each flight, all screws, nuts, and
components of the protective housing, as well as the entire quadcopter system, should be
checked for any issues to prevent catastrophic failure during flight.
VII.
Spare Parts
This section provides the specs and descriptions of the required spare parts needed to
minimize downtime in case of crashes. Click here to buy these parts.
TABLE 1: S PARE P ARTS LIST
Part Name
Propellers
Specifications
11 X 4.7
11 X 4.7P
Description
Used for flying the
copter, the letter P
which stands for
pusher is used for the
clockwise rotating
arms. While the
propellers without the
P are used for the
counter-clockwise
rotating arms.
M3 X 24mm
M3 X 08 mm
M3 X 18 mm
M3 X 30 mm
Legs
N/A
Battery
LiPo Battery 3S
3300 mAh
Lithium
Polymer
battery 20C discharge
rate
Spacers
Images
Page 10 of 11
Male
Female
ESCs
20A-BEC
Electronic Speed
Controllers (ESCs) a
spare set would be
helpful (4 ESCs)
Motors
880 kV
Arms
3DR Aluminum
Arms
Dean
Connectors
Support
Arms
Protective
Housing
Support Arms
Propeller
Guards
Protective
Housing
Propeller
Guards
Page 11 of 11