quadrotor

This summer's Edgerton Center Engineering Design class produced four awesome projects in four weeks. One of the projects was a functional RC quadrotor built with commonly-available RC equipment and an Arduino microcontroller board. Here is the instructions on how to make the quadrotor. The video of the four projects can be found here.


Parts List:

- 1/32” aluminum sheet
- 2 of 8 x 3.8 slow flyer propeller
- 2 of 8 x 3.8 slow flyer pusher propeller
- 4 of Turnigy C2028 Micro brushless outrunner 1400kV motor
- 4 of Turnigy Plush 18 amp speed controller
- Turnigy nano-tech 1800mah 4S 35-70C Lipo Pack
- 1/2” 4-40 plastic machine screws
- 4-40 plastic nuts
- 1/2” 4-40 aluminum machine screws
- 5/8” 4-40 aluminum machine screws
- 3/8” 4-40 aluminum machine screws
- 2” threaded 4-40 plastic spacers
- Accelerometer + Gyros chip: Sparkfun 6DOF razor IMU
- Microcontroller: arduino mini
- Hobbyking 2.4 GHz transmitter and receiver + Controller
- 1.5” hex threaded 4-40 aluminum spacers
- 2 of Carbon Fiber square tube .25” x .25” (.180 ID) x 48”
- Strings
- Zip-ties
- Super glue
- Velcro
- Protoboard
- Female header pins
- 3.3 volt regulator
- Jumper Wires


Where to get parts:

Propellers- http://www.apcprop.com/pindex.asp?Page=2  

http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_index.asp

Carbon Fiber square tube - http://www.dragonplate.com/

http://www.mcmaster.com/

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/categories.php

Step 1:

Cut 2 of 14”, 4 of 6.125”, 4 of 8” carbon fiber square tubes

Drill 7/64” holes 3/8” away from each ends of the cut carbon fiber tubes.

Drill 7/64” holes 1 and 5/8” from both ends of 14” long carbon fiber tubes. Drill 7/64” holes 1 and 5/8” from only one end of 6.125” and 8” long carbon fiber tubes.


When drilling through the carbon fiber tubes, drill very slowly with caution. Carbon fiber tubes can split if you don't pay attention. Also use a drill press instead of a hand drill.

Comments

[svenkataramu]

any one help?

[svenkataramu]

can i replace sparkfun mpu -6050 by inven sense mpu-6050? it costs less than sparkfun....

[jzambrano3]

hello nice work. i have the data of the gyro x, gyro y and gyro z, and the inclination of pitch and roll too but i only want to make it stable in the air without using a remote control. ongly vertical takeoff and landing wo what do i have to change in the code?

[sreeharshags]

sir,
the matter that u posted inspired me to make own quad rotor ,
i am bech final year student of SKU , i am doing project on quad rotor and i want to make quad rotor integrated with camera to send a signal to laptop...
can u pls help me with some guide lines...
thank you sir..

[Phoenix17]

I'm buying an Arduino Uno. I'm not sure if you know, but would you connect the same pins on the uno? Or do they have numbers and voltage correlations?

[Armethis]

The Arduino Uno has a lightly different layout then the Pro Mini being used here. One plus is that you can skip that 3.3v regulator because there is one on the board already. You'll notice that there is a pin labelled "3.3v" to which you can connect the corresponding 3.3v port on your sensor board.

So the pins for the sensor board the line up as such;
3.3v = 3.3v
GND = GND
Gx4 Y = Analogue5
Gx4 X = Analogue4
Gx4 Z = Analogue3
A Z = Analogue2
A Y = Analogue1
A X = Analogue0

The rest of the pins should correspond plainly to the ones on your UNO
Digital pins 6,7,8,9 to the control pin on your ESCs. Human controls are on pins 2,3,4,5 to your receiver. Personally I am using an Xbee module instead so I will not be using that last set.

[Ben Mighall]

What is a good way to get started with learning the Arduino?

[Armethis]

Getting your hands dirty. Personally, I got myself the starter kit from Adafruit; and they also have an excellent set of tutorials .

I had some programing experience at the time already, so for me it was an exercise in learning how to bring code into the physical realm. The Adafruit tutorial were good for me to shore up on the electronics side of things.

Did you have a project in mind already? I find that having a specific goal when learning something new greatly increases your chances of success and I'm more than happy to take a stab at it if you have any specific questions.

[Ben Mighall]

Thank you. That's very useful. The project I want to build is a semi-autonomous ground rover with a remotely fired paintball gun.

[w0w0s0w]

Hello,

could i also use instead of the IMU 6DOF Razor the IMU Digital Combo Board - 6 Degrees of Freedom ITG3200/ADXL345?

[MARZIYEHOSSEINI]

HELLO
MAY YOU SEND ME QUADROTOR PDF TO MY YAHOO ID?
THANKS.

[mooon]

hello friends
someone please tell me about motors rpm and weight used in quadrotor

[ashakya1]

how much money need to make this project?

[ProoN]

I did a rough look-around at prices (considering building one myself) and not included below are the screws, zip ties, etc. The stuff listed below is the main components. I personally have tons of screws, zip ties, spacers, etc laying around so I didn't factor that stuff in.

C2028 Motors - $11.34 x 4 = $45.34
8 x 3.8 slow flyer propeller - $1.95 x 2 = $3.90
8 x 3.8 slow flyer push propeller - $2.90 x 2 = $5.80
Turnigy Plush 18amp Speed Controller - $11.90 x 4 = $47.60
Nano-tech 1800mah 4S 35-70C Lipo Pack (Battery) = $17.84
Sparkfun 6DOF razor IMU (retired, see ITG3200/ADXL345 = $64.95
Arduino Mini = $33.95
HobbyKing 2.4Ghz 4ch Tx & Rx V2 - $22.99
Carbon Fiber square tube .25” x .25” (.180 ID) x 48” - $9.75 x 2 = $19.50

Ultimately comes out to $261.87. So, that + shipping prices + misc. items not listed would probably be in the neighborhood of $300 USD.

[gaurav_sharma132]

In your averaging code where complimentary filter is implemented, you directly put up the accelero readings in it i.e xin and yin.

Don't you think accelero reading is in 'g'. You have to extract angle of tilt from it. Then only resulting xaverage and yavearge comes out to be in deg. That is providing resulting tilt from its reference position.
May be you have tuned it accordingly.

But like to know your comments on this.

Anyways, good work.

[evileyz]

Hey,
Hi to all of you .. Guys em stuck in a big problem .. can some one help me out ..
my problem is how to integrate the quad rotor with micro controller ..
details : Actually i build the quad rotor .. The RC which em using is for Aeroplane not for Quad rotor ... so it is not support with quad rotor .. because all rotors are not working simultaneously .. someone told me that you should use micro controlling .. i have no idea about that because em a software engineering student .. can some one give me the code of micro controlling for quad rotor ? please i shall be very thankful .. please guys .. Thanks

[magdi.saadiah]

hi all ... please ..
can i make a quadrotor without using an arduino..?? please answer me

[blinkyblinky]

Sure...you just need to recreate the code.

[saif engineer]

can you please tell me the relation between RPM of moters,thrust produced by moters,blade area,and for how much weight we require how many RPM of moter.

[farmboy177]

Try www.blueskyrc.com for awesome prices on props.

[CamWarder]

i dont understand what the "protoboard" is. is it just the arduino, or is it something else. i dont see a part number or name so i really would appreciate any feedback. also, would it be possible to put the aeroquad firmware on this instead of the firmware supplied in this tutorial.

[monty324]

i like this because i have a realy nice syma heli but i am afraid to use it because everytime i use it i break the blades but on this it has a thing all the way round all the blades so if it hits somthing then the blades dont snap

[mohamed_adel]

Greetings,
the 1400kv motors is out of stock , so i was wondering if i can use a different motor for example Turnigy 1400 Brushless Indoor Motor 4500kv , especially i need to put a heavy payload , and what ESC can be used if i used another motor ??
thank you.

[PICHIRS]

Hello sir.i'm Prasant.i'm making a quadrotors.at first i'm try to make it through wireline.so i have buy 28000RPM motor and prop 9*5.connect wires to battery as parrel but there is problem that it doesn't fly & itz geeting downward on one side.can u suggest me whats the problem is there that i will thankfull to u..........

[kishore1997]

Hi,
This was the only guide to building a quadrotor with good code explanation , could you plz explain the whole code to me and how the direction input from the transmitter is decoded and what actions are taken to follow the direction of the joystick.

Thanks Could i pls get a quick response.

[dchall8]

Having done this project and gotten some feedback, what would you do differently next time?  The market for these quads seems to be in aerial surveillance. 

If you wanted to cut costs, where would you start cutting?

If you wanted it to carry a camera, how would you modify it?

If you wanted it to fly a programmed route and return, what would you change? 

If you wanted to fly two (or three), back-to-back, 10-minute flights, how would you change it? 

[Computothought]

Probably never build it but kept the plans for future reference.

[Dwest2828]

I have a question about the IMU 6DOF Razor - Ultra-Thin IMU Accel. and gyro chip. The only one they currently sell is the digital version. Would the digital version work?

[bagoram]

good work guys. really nice..

[a sandwhich]

Is it necessary to use an esc programming card? Where you able to use the esc's right out of the box without having to modify/reprogram them?

[ankitgarg2005]

can we use 89v51rd2 microcontroller

[yukimunaz]

can i know total weight of your quadrotor?
cause my quadrotor have weight 1.5kg and my motor used 830KV
and you know what happen when i'm using full power?
nothing ; hahahhahahahha....................
so my quadrotor cannot lift up yet T_T

[pbawesome]

hey, I've heard about Edgerton Center. I've never come down because I couldn't find much info on the site.

A lady, I can't remember her name brought it up at the st louis airport after the FIRST championship. I'm interested in coming to check out what you guys do, and maybe throw around some ideas. I also have a quad rotor, using just about the same things, I'm running an arduino mega because I plan to integrate heading and barometric pressure.

I'd like to get some help with software and trying out some autonomous flight.

Thank You

I'm eagerly waiting to hear from you :)

[thod999]

Great project i'm inspired and want to have a go!
I've done a quick costing of the project using the links referenced, it's coming out at $320 plus postage (say another 20%) so $380

I'm looking to make this project but don't know where to find the plastic spacers nuts and screws you've specified. I'm in australia and don't have home depot :) any ideas where i can find this stuff on the internet?

[Phoenix17]

Couple things- suggestions and then my question


First: Watched your video of it! I noticed that as soon as it takes off it starts to spin. Are all your rotors turning the same direction? If so, maybe try some combination of opposite directions. like two on a side opposite, or opposing rotors spin opposite (and adjust the props accordingly of course)

Second: I also noticed that it accelerated up and down really quickly. You could code your control to "soften" the acceleration by telling it to hold minimum motor voltage at no user input to be just slightly below what it takes to "hold
" position. Know what I mean? So at negative user input it will give it whatever corresponding voltage is, but zero joystick input means it gives hover or slightly below hover voltage.


My question- do you have a total cost? I want to build this, and I'm getting a board already. But when I looked at that accelerometer/gyro board I nearly crapped myself. It's like $90! Do you think I could build an analog IC with accelerometers and gyros? I was hoping to build this under like $150 :p

[ultralightcomposites]

you could use a composite material to your RC quadrotor to easy and very light to carry. You can view some carbon fiber materials for your project here, follow this link: http://www.ultralightcomposites.com thanks!

[maddyeffect]

can you please upload the circuit schematic diagram of guadrotor

[susipriyan]

i have designed half only one motor is running as per your concept what should i have to do for controlling all four

[feet1515]

Presumably you should connect the speed controller control wires to the correct pins on the Ardino board via the wiring diagram in the instructable.

[rohit7gupta]

which software is this??