THE TETHERING OF A DJI

MATRICE 100
University of California, Berkeley
ME 102B, Spring 2016
Design Review 2
Professor Liwei Lin

Group 18: The Hot Quads

Turner Anderson | Kevin Chen | Les Girard | Jack Hendershott | Lavanya Jawaharlal | John Norton
March 28, 2016

Contents
Executive Summary........................................................................................................................................ i
1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 1
2. Customer Specifications............................................................................................................................ 1
2.1 Mechanical Specifications ............................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Electrical Specifications ................................................................................................................... 3
2.3 Economic Specifications .................................................................................................................. 3
3. Concept Generation .................................................................................................................................. 3
3.1 Tensioning System .......................................................................................................................... 4
3.2 Power Transmission System ........................................................................................................... 4
3.3 Landing Scheme .............................................................................................................................. 4
4. Concept Selection ..................................................................................................................................... 4
4.1 Tensioning System .......................................................................................................................... 4
4.2 Power Transmission System ........................................................................................................... 4
4.3 Landing Scheme .............................................................................................................................. 5
5. Concept Description.................................................................................................................................. 7
5.1 Tensioning System .......................................................................................................................... 7
5.2 Power Transmission System ........................................................................................................... 7
5.3 Landing Scheme .............................................................................................................................. 9
5.4 DJI Software Development Kit (SDK)............................................................................................... 9
6. Parameter Analysis ................................................................................................................................... 9
6.1 Tensioning System .......................................................................................................................... 9
6.2 Power Transmission System ......................................................................................................... 10
6.3 Landing Scheme ............................................................................................................................ 10
7. Final Design ............................................................................................................................................. 10
7.1 Tensioning System ........................................................................................................................ 10
7.2 Power Transmission System ......................................................................................................... 11
7.3 Landing Scheme ............................................................................................................................ 11
8. Problem Analysis ..................................................................................................................................... 11
8.1 Tensioning System ........................................................................................................................ 11
8.2 Power Transmission System ......................................................................................................... 12
8.3 Landing Scheme ............................................................................................................................ 12
9. Action Plan .............................................................................................................................................. 12

10. Stretch Goals ......................................................................................................................................... 13

10.1 Battery Interconnection .............................................................................................................. 13
10.2 Autonomous Flight Path ............................................................................................................. 13
11. Information Sources.............................................................................................................................. 13
12. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 14
References .................................................................................................................................................. 14
Appendix 1: Boost Converter Calculations .................................................................................................... I
Appendix 2: Buck Converter Calculations ..................................................................................................... II
Appendix 3: Engineering Drawing of Final Base System .............................................................................. III
Appendix 4: Bill of Materials ........................................................................................................................ IV
Appendix 5: Engineering Drawing of Tension Sensor ................................................................................... V

Executive Summary
Small, unmanned quadcopters have been quickly gaining popularity over the last few years because of a
wide range of recreational and research-related applications, such as aerial photography, navigation, and
surveillance. Many companies, such as DJI, Parrot, and 3D Robotics, have developed easy-to-use,
inexpensive flight platforms and controllers, allowing a variety of users to own and operate their own
quadcopters. Because of their increasing robustness and decreasing cost, quadcopters have also generated
interest in commercial and industrial realms. However, the full adoption of quadcopters in industrial
applications has been severely limited due to the short battery lives, and therefore flight times, of currently
available quadcopters. If a quadcopter were to be developed that had significantly longer, or even indefinite,
flight times, many industrial applications would become much more viable. For example, there is much
interest in the use of quadcopters as temporary communications towers, where a quadcopter with additional
communications equipment would hover above any obstructions for as long as necessary. A temporary
communications tower such as this could find use at sporting events, sites of natural disaster, or other
humanitarian aid projects, where enhanced communications are often required at a moments notice.
However, there are currently no market-ready quadcopters with the necessary capability of long-term hover,
so temporary communication towers have not been realized.
For this project, DJI is sponsoring The Hot Quads to design the mechanical and electrical accessories and
interface needed to achieve unlimited hover in a DJI Matrice 100 quadcopter. After providing us with an
M100 and the necessary funds for accessories, DJI expects that the quadcopter will be capable of at least
100 foot above ground level (AGL) hover. In addition, tether tension should be autonomously managed
from takeoff through landing, the power system should have at least 50W of free capacity for additional
communication systems, and the standard 22V battery should be absent from the system while it is tethered.
It is expected that a working demonstration of the tethered quadcopter will be given at the beginning of
May, including the tensioning system, electronics, and all other necessary interfaces. DJI has also provided
us with access to their DJI Developer software, which will allow us to program our own flight paths and
alter the quadcopter in ways that some standard users cannotwe have made it a stretch goal to create a
fully autonomous system using custom flight paths and hover commands.
The challenges associated with this project have been broken into three parts: the tensioning system, the
power transmission system, and the landing scheme. Tension is necessary in the tether in order to prevent
entanglement in the rotors, which would inevitably lead to a crash and damage the quadcopter. Tensioning
will be achieved using sensors that can sense the tension force on the tether, an Arduino microcontroller,
and a motor. In order to keep the tether relatively light, it is also necessary to transmit power at a high
voltage, and therefore a low current, before inputting it to the quadcopter at 22V. In order to achieve this,
a DC Power Supply and a boost converter will be used in the base system to transform 120V AC into 240V
DC, and a buck converter will convert the signal to 22V DC on the quadcopter. Finally, in order to
confidently land the quadcopter in a predefined space, the tether will pull the quadcopter in on landing.
While this may require a higher torque motor, we believe a predictable landing zone will be more valuable
than slight weight or cost savings.
At this point in the project, all systems have been designed and analyzed, and they are ready for
manufacture. The DC Power Supply has been acquired, the boost and buck converters have been designed,
and all electronic components for the power transmission system have been acquired. The design of the
tensioning system is complete, and we are planning on ordering all parts during the week of Monday, March
28th. While the tensioning system is important, it is not quite as integral to the success of the power
transmission system, and because of this the power transmission system has been slightly prioritized. April
will be spent assembling, testing, and troubleshooting all aspects of the quadcopter before it is to be
demonstrated on April 29th.
i

1. Introduction
DJI, a world leader in easy-to-fly drones and aerial
photography systems, was founded in 2006 in
Shenzhen, China, and has recently begun operations in
Palo Alto, California. DJI designs and manufactures a
wide range of products including quadcopters (Figure
1), flight controllers, quadcopter accessories, and
camera gimbals. While DJI drones excel in recreational
endeavors, their commercial applications are currently
restricted because of short flight times associated with
limits in battery technology. If a quadcopter could fly,
or even hover, indefinitely, a wide range of applications
would be divulged, particularly in the realm of
temporary communications towers. One can imagine
that this could be useful in instances of large sporting
events or humanitarian aid, where enhanced
communication systems are often needed only
temporarily but at a moments notice. While there are
multiple obvious applications for unlimited quadcopter
hover, there are currently no widely available products
that allow a quadcopter to hover any longer than its
standard battery allows.

Figure 1: The DJI Inspire 1, a commercially available

quadcopter for professional photographers

Because of the high potential for long-term use of

quadcopters in commercial applications, our team is
being sponsored by DJI to modify a Matrice 100
(M100) quadcopter such that it can achieve unlimited
hover at a height of at least 100 feet above ground level
(AGL).
In order to achieve this, the battery will need to be
removed from the M100 and a powered tether will need
to be attached in its place. By connecting to the existing
power grid and converting the 120V AC signal into 22V
DC for use by the M100, we will allow the quadcopter
to hover indefinitely wherever there is an existing
power grid.

In the future, ground-based batteries could be used to

extend the M100s range beyond the limits of the power
grid. There is currently a paucity of products
commercially available for use as temporary
communication towers, so the successful completion of
this project will allow DJI to gain a large market share
in an emerging and lucrative market.

2. Customer Specifications
The customer, DJI, specified the following
requirements for this project:
Achieve 100 ft. tethered operational ceiling
Autonomously manage tether tension
Have a minimum 50W peak power margin
Operate independent of standard battery pack
Hover indefinitely while tethered
Based on these specifications, we need to select a wire
gauge appropriate for the tether, design the tethering
system, and create multiple circuits including a boost
converter, a buck converter and tensioning system.
Target values were selected for our Quality Function
Deployment (QFD) (Figure 2) based on specifications
and calculations that maximize the current running
through the tether. Through this QFD, we are able to
quantify the relative importance of each specification
and compare our goals to those of the competition.
After conducting market research, we have identified
two major competitors for our project - the Elistair
SAFE-T and the Drone Aviation Watt 300. The SAFET is a unique smart tethered station for drones that
allows for data transfer and unlimited flight time. The
Watt 300 is a tethered aerial platform that has unlimited
flight time and allows for various missions. As we are
working on the project, we will be considering how
SAFE-T has such a small and efficient tether station,
and how we can incorporate it into our design. Other
than these two companies, most other drones do not
feature any tether, nor do they have the open platform
allowing for sensors and additional equipment as the
M100 does. The following images (Figure 2a and 2b)
show our QFD that review the comparison analysis for
design specifications, target values, and competition.

Figure 2a: Quality Function Deployment

(QFD)

using a flight-time of twenty minutes in our benchmark

current calculation. A 4500 mAh battery will have a
13.5A rms current draw during a 20-minute flight. Using
equation 1 shows us that the drones power consumption
will be roughly three hundred watts.

(1)

DJI has stipulated that they would like a 50W peak

power margin to allow for the safe addition of a
communications array, so our final system must be able
to safely transmit 350W of power from the ground to the
drone. Safe transmission of this power will require a
high voltage in the tether so that we may keep current
levels low and wire diameter small [2].

2.3 Economic Specifications

Figure 2b: Competitive Analysis

2.1 Mechanical Specifications

Mechanically, DJI required that the operation be
tethered and that flight be unobstructed. This means that
the tensioning system must be designed to account for
lateral movement of the drone (up to 1 meter) and cannot
obstruct the drone propellers through entanglement. DJI
did not provide many mechanical specifications, so the
majority of mechanical design considerations will have
to be evaluated through experiment.
We are targeting a total weight of 1.5kg for the ground
box that will house the tether and tensioning system.
1.5kg is an ideal weight as it would be easy to transport,
yet heavy enough to withstand wind and any other
exogenous factors. The base system must also operate
independently of any batteries that must be recharged
individually, as this would greatly limit the applications
of this system.

2.2 Electrical Specifications

The M100 uses a six cell, 4500 mAh battery [1]. Because
the battery operates at 22.2V, any power transmission
system we design must convert its input to a 22.2V
output. The input is variable and may be 120V 60Hz AC
power, 240V 50Hz AC power, or DC power supplied
from a ground-side battery. DJI gave us a flight time
estimate of twenty to thirty minutes, so we decided to
use a conservative (higher) estimate of current draw,

DJI has not given us any economic specifications for

this project, other than it must be on a reasonable
budget and completed by the beginning of May 2016.
DJI, through a fund created with UC Berkeley, has
agreed to fund the bulk of this project, so our personal
finances are not a consideration in design.
We reasoned that $300 was a reasonable cost based on
the cost of the required electronics, base housing, and
tether. After speaking with DJI, we realized the total cost
should not be of great concern because of this projects
industrial applications; however, we would still like to
maintain a low cost as much as possible.

3. Concept Generation
During our brainstorming sessions, we came up with
many concepts and ideas regarding the main parts of the
project, namely the tensioning system, power
transmission, and landing scheme. We narrowed these to
the ideas listed below that we thought were the most
feasible and efficient. From there we had a challenge in
figuring out which combination of tensioning, power
transmission, and landing schemes to use. This was
because each concept has its own set of advantages and
disadvantages that had to be weighed appropriately. In
the end, however, we had a consensus on which
combination was the most feasible and efficient.

3.1 Tensioning System

Design ideas for the tensioning system included two
potential mechanisms and two locations for the system.
Either a mechanical spring/ratchet or an Arduino
controlled motor could control tensioning. In addition,
the system could be located in the base station or
onboard the quadcopter. While the mechanical spring
would allow the system to operate without a controller,
it would apply a constant load to the drone, requiring
more thrust than if a controller were used. The location
for the tensioning system could either be on the
quadcopter or in the base station. Initially, it seemed that
housing the system in the base station would be the
better solution, as keeping the tensioning system on the
drone itself would increase its overall weight
significantly.

brushless motor to actuate the spool with the aid of an

Arduino. With a retracting coil, we have the added
benefit of having the tether in constant tension without
external forces.

4. Concept Selection
After generating all possible concepts, we methodically
worked through them to decide which concepts would
be the most feasible and effective. The first step in this
process was to create tables to list the advantages and
disadvantages of each individual design concept. Two
examples of these tables can be seen in Figure 3. Once
these lists were exhausted, we compiled the data into
decision matrices, weighed the relevant criteria, and
used the outcome to make our final decisions. The
individual decision matrices can be seen in their
respective subsections.

3.2 Power Transmission System

4.1 Tensioning System
There were two basic options for the power transmission
systempower could be transmitted straight from AC
to the drone, or it could be rectified to DC, stepped up,
and then stepped back down. Further permutations of
these designs included making the system compatible
with both American 120V 60Hz AC power and
European 240V 50 Hz AC power; making the ground
system compatible with both AC and DC power inputs;
and supplying the converters with power from mounted
batteries or from regulated voltage circuits.

3.3 Landing Scheme

We had several ideas for how to land the quadcopter
after completion of its mission. One idea was to have the
tether running out through a hole in the top of the Pelican
case. Thus, the Pelican case would remain closed during
operation of the quadcopter. When concluding
operation, the quadcopter would then come to a landing
on top of the case. Another idea would be to have the
tether run through the side of the Pelican case and around
a pulley connected to a fold-out landing table hinged to
the side of the case. From the pulley, the tether runs
through a hole in the landing table and the quadcopter
ends its operation on top of the landing table.
In addition to the two schemes above, slight deviations
will occur depending on if we decide to use a retracting
coil in the spool or if we decide to use a stepper or

Upon completion of our comparative analysis, we

decided on a ground-based, motor-controlled (Arduino),
autonomous tensioning system. This was decided
quantitatively with the help of our decision matrix in
Figure 4. We decided on a ground-based system rather
than a drone-based one due to the payload requirements
and the need to operate independently of the standard
battery. We elected for motor-controlled over ratcheted
because the need to autonomously manage the tension
and overall safety outweighed our cost concerns (given
that cost is not a high priority for this project). We also
elected for an autonomous system rather than usercontrolled system as autonomously managing tether
tension makes it much easier to control for the user and
makes the process more consistent overall.

4.2 Power Transmission System

The concept selection process for the power
transmission system is shown in Figure 5. Transmitting
AC power would mean a considerably bulkier tether
system, as we would have to add additional wiring and
insulation to safely accommodate 120 or 240V AC.
Increased insulation and wiring would translate to more
weight, making cable management more difficult and
impairing the drones already limited thrust capabilities.
Transmitting AC power, however, has fewer failures
modes than DC power transmission because it only
4

requires a rectifier and buck converter; whereas DC

transmission requires a rectifier, boost converter, and
buck converter. The addition of a boost converter is
further complicated by the fact that boosts are very prone
to current overload.
Ultimately, we decided to utilize DC power
transmission, largely because of payload requirements.
AC power transmission requires the installation of a
heavy rectifier on the drone itself, whereas DC power
transmission only requires the installation of a buck
converter, which is much smaller and lighter than a
rectifier. DC power transmission also lacks the wiring
and insulation requirements that AC demands, further
relaxing system demand on the drones thrust
capabilities. As a minor design note, we elected to use
regulated voltage circuits to supply power to the
converters, rather than give them mounted batteries,
because attaching batteries to the system increases
weight and limits drone flight time.

4.3 Landing Scheme

As previously mentioned, we had several ideas
regarding how to land the quadcopter. The two main
ideas entailed running the tether out of a hole in the
Pelican case and landing the quadcopter on the case
itself, or having the tether run around a pulley connected
to a fold out table hinged to the case. With the help of
our decision matrix (Figure 6), we decided that although
the hole in the top of the case would provide for the safer
design, the fold out table would be a better solution with
regards to system complexity, as well as likely be a
better landing surface.

Figure 3: Two of the pros vs. cons tables that were created for concept selection

Figure 4: Concept selection for tensioning system

Figure 5: Concept selection for power transmission system

Figure 6: Concept selection for landing scheme

5. Concept Description
The Matrice 100 and its platform were modeled using
SolidWorks to show the ultimate assembly we are
aiming to create (Figure 7). Ideally, the user is able to
carry the quadcopter in one hand, and the Pelican case,
with all components in it, in the other hand.
Operationally, set up would include opening the Pelican
case and unfolding the platform. The tether would be
inside and connect to the platform for the tensioning
system. All materials for the power transmission system
will fit inside the case.

5.1 Tensioning System

The tensioning system will require a spool, an Arduino
controller, and a strain gauge. The Arduino controller
will control the motor. The spool will be connected to
the motor, allowing the quadcopter to elevate to the 100
foot height requirement. Although the isometric view
below shows the spool outside of the case, in the final
design, the spool will lay within the Pelican Case. As for
sensors, we have two options. We will either use a force
sensor on the tensioning system at the base or use the
onboard SDK to get real time flight altitude data
(acceleration, velocity, etc.) to obtain data necessary to
control the motor appropriately. The force sensor would
control the tensioning system directly through the
tension in the wire at the base, whereas using the SDK
would allow us to use in flight data for control.

5.2 Power Transmission System

The tether system will require three major components:
1) AC/DC rectifier
2) boost converter
3) buck converter
The rectifier will be implemented using commercial, offthe-shelf technology. We have acquired a 24V DC
power supply that is compatible with 60Hz 120 AC or
50Hz 240 AC power. This will be mounted directly in
the tether casing and securely connected to the boost
converter. The boost converter will take the 24V DC
input from the power supply and step it up to 120V DC,
with a ripple voltage of 2V. The 120V DC output will
travel up the tether at approximately 1.5A, with a ripple
current of 0.3A [3]. A buck converter mounted on the
drone will take the 120V DC signal from the tether and
step it down to the 22.2V that the drone requires, with a
ripple voltage of 1V and a ripple current of 0.3A [4].
Accommodating the peak power margin requested by
DJI translates to 15.75A of current at the drone, the
aforementioned 1.5A of current in the tether, and 14.5A
from the DC power supply. All of the individual
circuitry components are rated for the expected current
and voltage conditions [5-9]. The parameters for the
boost converter were determined from equations given
in Texas Instruments datasheets and from speaking with
Tom Clark. All designs were verified in Multisim.
Voltage output for
boost/buck converters

(2)

Figures 8 and 9, on the following page, show the circuit

diagrams and of the boost converter and buck converter,
respectively.

Figure 7: Initial component layout in Pelican case

7

Figure 8: Boost Converter Circuit

Figure 9: Buck Converter Circuit

5.3 Landing Scheme

As mentioned previously, its important to note that the
current CAD model is not to scale and only to be used
for visual purposes. The overall electrical layout
however, will remain the same as shown in Figure 8. In
the final design, the electrical components will be placed
closer to the bottom of the Pelican case and we will have
a hinged fold-out landing table that collapses into the
case. The tether connected to the boost converter will be
routed out through a hole in the case, around a pulley,
and through a hole in the landing table. The pulley will
allow us to keep constant tension on the quadcopter
without causing damage to the tether. Finally, the
quadcopter will be free to hover and at the end of its
mission, it will descend onto the landing table. This
initial landing scheme design can be seen in the Figure
10, below.

acceleration, and the size of the landing platform. For

power transmission, our calculations began with basic
circuit design to determine the necessary voltages and
currents in the systems multiple stages. We then used
these values to design the buck and boost converters,
which were then simulated using readily available circuit
simulation tools such as SPICE. Further detail regarding
these calculations is given in the following subsections.

6.1 Tensioning System

After deciding on a tether and spool, the main
parameters to be determined for the tensioning system
were the tether tension and motor torque. With a
maximum vertical velocity of 3 m/s2, a spool radius of
5.1 cm (2 inches), and a total spool and tether mass of
0.71 kg (1.57 pounds), we calculated that the necessary
holding torque for the stepper motor was 0.081 N-m, or
11.5 oz-in. This torque calculation was found using the
following equation
= 2

(3)

where T is the required torque, m is the total mass, R is

the spool radius, and is the angular acceleration, which
was replaced by the linear acceleration divided by the
spool radius. We have purchased a stepper motor that
has a holding torque of 68 oz-in, well beyond what is
required for spooling.
Figure 10: Foldable platform for landing scheme

5.4 DJI Software Development Kit (SDK)

The DJI Developer provides a mobile, onboard, and
guidance SDK. Time permitting, a milestone would be
to use the mobile and onboard SDK to develop an
automated flight path. This would allow the user to
specify hover time, location, and automatic takeoff and
landing. The onboard SDKs motion control interface
would allow us to focus on altitude without worrying
about stability [10]. Automated takeoff and landing
would be a stretch goal, as the focus is to first achieve a
tensioning system and landing scheme.

6. Parameter Analysis
For the tensioning and landing systems, our calculations
mostly consisted of using known values such as
quadcopter mass or vertical acceleration to determine
parameters such as motor torque, tether tension, spool

In order to ensure efficient reeling in of the tether and

prevent jamming, a linear actuator will be used to couple
the spool rotation and translation. With a linear velocity
of 1 m/s, a spool diameter of 10.2 cm (4 inches), and a
conductor diameter of 0.25 cm, it was calculated that the
actuator will need a maximum linear velocity of 11 cm/s.
This calculation was completed using the following
equation

(4)

where v is the linear velocity of the M100, d is the

conductor diameter, and D is the spool diameter.
The minimum bending radius of the tether is a relevant
parameter for the design of the tension sensor. For a 0.25
cm conductor diameter, it was calculated that the
minimum bending radius is 14.13 mm [11]. This
minimum bending radius was taken into consideration
for the design of the rollers on the tension sensor.
9

6.2 Power Transmission System

As mentioned before, the end-state parameters for the
power transmission system were stipulated by DJI to be
22.2V at 16A. We decided to use 24V as the output of
our DC power supply because 24V power supplies were
widely available and easy to acquire. Designing the
boost converter to have a 10x gain boosting voltage to
240V and lowering current to 1.5 A - allowed us to use
19 gauge wire in the tether, which kept the final payload
within the drones thrust capabilities. The boost
converter gain was modulated by altering the duty cycle
of the n-channel MOSFET using a 555 timer chip
integrated into a dedicated converter switching IC. The
transfer functions for the boost (Eq. 5) and buck (Eq. 6)
converter may be seen below, along with the equation
for duty cycle of the 555 timer (Eq. 7). A 10x gain for
the boost requires a 90% duty cycle (Appendix 1), while
the 0.0925x gain for the buck requires a 9.25% duty
cycle (Appendix 2). All other components affect the rise
time of the system, which is generally negligible (< 1
second), and are rated for proper currents (>15A) and
voltages (240V) to ensure the tether system can operate
safely and reliably.
0
1
=
1

(5)

0
=

(6)

+ 2

to handle and landing force from the M100 without

significant deflection.

7. Final Design
After determining the specific parameters of our design,
we began designing the final layout of the subsystems,
both as individual systems and relative to each other. A
completed CAD model of the entire assembly can be
seen in Figure 11, and engineering drawings can be
found in Appendix 3. In addition, all off-the-shelf parts
have either been ordered or will be ordered shortly so
that we can begin to manufacture the entire system. A
bill of materials can be found in Appendix 4, and
detailed descriptions of each subsystem can be found in
the following sections.

(7)

6.3 Landing Scheme

The main design parameters for the landing scheme arise
from the size of the Matrice 100. The platform is
designed such that the tether rises from the center and
pulls the M100 in, which allows for accurate and
consistent landing. By descending slowly enough, any
amount of tension will result in the M100 landing on top
of the platform. Because of this, the same motor torque
requirement for the tensioning system can be applied to
the landing scheme. In the scenario of an emergency
landing with rapid descent, the M100 can land outside of
the platform without damaging the system. Because the
landing platform is made out of aluminum, it will be able

Figure 11. Isometric View of Final Base Design

7.1 Tensioning System

Because commercial tension sensors that would meet
our needs are all in the range of $1000, we decided to
develop our own using aluminum rod, a Wheatstone
bridge, and three bearings. By attaching the bearings to
three cantilevered aluminum rods and running the tether
through the bearings, we will be able to measure the
tension in the tether relative to a threshold value using
the voltage output of the Wheatstone bridge. When the
voltage output is higher than the threshold value, the
Arduino Uno will rotate the motor shaft such that tether
is released, and when the voltage output is lower than the
threshold, tether will be reeled in. This tensioning
system will operate autonomously of the M100 without
10

input from the user. A CAD of the tension sensor can be

seen in Figure 12, and an engineering drawing is shown
in Appendix 5.

7.3 Landing Scheme

Although we originally decided on a fold-out landing
platform in our Concept Description and Design Review
1, we have since revised this design because of the added
weight of a dedicated platform and the reaction force
necessary for the platform to counteract tether tension.
For our final design, the M100 will still descend slowly
enough to be pulled in by the tether, but it will land on
top of the base system rather than on a landing platform
to the side. Because the base system is large enough to
accommodate the M100, using it as the landing platform
alleviates issues associated with system weight and with
tension reaction forces. If an unexpected, rapid landing
occurs, the system can accommodate a landing on
ground outside of the base system.

8. Problem Analysis
Figure 12. SolidWorks Model of Tension Sensor
A mechanism also had to be designed to ensure that the
tether spreads evenly on the spool during reeling. It was
unreasonable to translate the tether, as is done in a
fishing rod, because of difficulties associated with also
translating the tension sensor. Because of this, we
decided it would be more plausible to couple the linear
translation of the spool to its rotation using a linear
actuator and the Arduino microcontroller. By translating
the spool linearly while it is rotating, we ensure that the
tether will be reeled evenly onto the spool. This
mechanism will also operate autonomously without
input from the user.

7.2 Power Transmission System

Off-the-shelf components were deemed too expensive or
heavy to allow the M100 to operate within its mission
parameters so we designed and fabricated our own, with
the exception of the AC rectifier. The rectifier turns US
120V 3-phase 60Hz AC power into 24V DC power. The
rectifiers 24V output is then fed into our boost
converter, which steps up the current to 240V, allowing
it to be safely transmitted through 19 AWG wire at a
moderate 1.5A. At the drone, a buck converter steps the
voltage down to 22.2V so that it can replace the six-cell
LiPo battery normally used by the M100. The power
transmission system is turned on and off by a switch
located in the storage case containing the tensioning
system, rectifier, and boost converter.

At this stage in our project, the most significant

problems will most likely arise from unforeseen
challenges during manufacture and assembly of the three
subsystems. There is the chance that some electronics
could be fried during initial power transmission testing,
thereby leading to delays in the timeline. Furthermore,
the tensioning and landing systems both require accurate
tension measurement, which depends the precise
calibration of our strain gauge.

8.1 Tensioning System

The main challenge currently associated with the
tensioning system is strain gauge calibration. After
determining the ideal tether tension, we need to
determine the corresponding voltage output from the
strain gauge. Given our goal to control the motor based
upon this voltage output, large fluctuations in
measurement based upon wind conditions or GPS
inaccuracy will need to be considered.
Improper tensioning could also cause entanglement,
leaving the quadcopter in danger of crashing. Because of
this entanglement danger, we will need to ensure that a
sudden and unexpected high tension scenario would lead
to immediate tension release. This will be done by
having the motor release large amounts of tether if the
tension increases above a certain threshold value.
Finally, reeling in of the tether will be challenging
because of the necessity of translating the spool while it
11

is rotating. Without either spool or tether translation, the

wire will build up in one location on the spool, which
would lead to eventual inoperability of the system.
While we have considered these problems in our final
design, we will still need to be diligent in avoiding these
issues during development and testing.

8.2 Power Transmission System

The most difficult part about power transmission was the
design of the boost and buck converter circuits. This is a
unique design case that requires both high voltage and
high current, meaning many off-the-shelf converters
were not suitable for this projects needs. This lack of
commercial technology necessitated that we design and
build our own converters, a time-consuming and energyintensive process for engineers who specialize in
mechanical rather than electrical systems. Now that the
circuits have been designed, our most pressing concern
is safely implementing them, especially given the high
power levels we are dealing with. If we believe these
circuits are unsafe after development, we may be forced
to change our design to allow for AC power
transmission. However, with AC power transmission, a
DC Power Supply would need to be placed on the
quadcopter during operation. Tom Clark has already
been a great deal of assistance to us in designing these

circuits and we will likely turn to him for guidance when

it comes time to test them.

8.3 Landing Scheme

The landing scheme needs to be compact and
lightweight. Ideally, the landing platform will fold out
on top of the Pelican Case. However, we foresee issues
with the size of the platform as the Matrice 100s GPS is
accurate to about a one meter radius. To address this
issue, we will be relying on the tensioning system to reel
in the Matrice 100. To do this, the tensioning system
must be able to maintain a high level of tension as the
quadcopter descends. As the quadcopter is reeled in, the
tensioning system should also decrease in speed to
increase accuracy. Additionally, the tether spool needs
to fit into the Pelican case. In order for this to compactly
fit, we must also consider the wrapping of the wire gauge
and how this affects the feeding system for tensioning.

9. Action Plan
Our Gantt chart, shown in Figure 13, reviews our
timeline for the project. To accomplish our goals, we
have divided the team in three main subgroups: Tension
Team, Power Team, and Landing Team. The landing
scheme design process is just beginning now that we
have a better idea of what type of tensioning system we
will be working with.

Figure 13: Gantt Chart reviewing timeline

12

Our timeline was created based on three phases with the

Design Reviews being pre-set dates determined by the
course schedule. To adhere to this, Design Review I
focuses on initial concept designs, Design Review II
relies heavily on the electronics and tether final designs,
and Phase 3 includes prototype and testing. With the ME
102B Demo on April 29th, Phase 3 will follow the most
strict timeline in order to compensate for any
complications that may arise in the first three weeks of
April. We believe that these three weeks will be
adequate to address any issues or questions that may
stem from the landing scheme and tensioning system.

way, quadcopter operation would not be limited to areas

with working electrical grids, and the tethered M100
could me more useful in natural disaster or humanitarian
situations when AC power is not always available.

The sub teams are divided as follows:

Tensioning System Team - Kevin Chen, Jack
Hendershott & Lavanya Jawaharlal
Power Transmission Team Turner
Anderson, Les Girard, & John Norton
Landing Scheme Team Turner Anderson,
Kevin Chen, Jack Hendershott, Lavanya
Jawaharlal
SDK Development John Norton & Jack
Hendershott

10.2 Autonomous Flight Path

The milestones chart, shown in Figure 14 defines the

deadlines, milestones, and team assignments.

Figure 14: Milestones along with designated team role

10. Stretch Goals

If we are able to fulfill all the project specifications with
time to spare, we have a couple stretch goals that, if they
were to be implemented, would make the tethered drone
much more commercially applicable.

10.1 Battery Interconnection

Rather than plugging the base system into a standard
electrical outlet, it would be useful to have the option to
power the quadcopter with a large 22V battery. In this

In order to realize this goal, we would need to allow the

user to bypass the DC Power Supply and connect a 22V
battery directly to the boost converter. We believe this is
a plausible goal because it would only require additional
electrical connections for a battery and a switch to tell
the boost converter whether to draw power from the
battery connection or the DC Power Supply.

Our second stretch goal is to use DJI Developer, which

allows us to access the DJI Mobile and Onboard SDKs
for our M100, to implement autonomous flight paths for
the tethered drone. In this way, the user would only have
to select a hover height and a flight length, at which point
the quadcopter would autonomously, without any
further user input, fly to the specified height and hover
for the specified time while transmitting and receiving
any necessary communications.
To achieve this goal, we would need to gain access to
DJI Developer and quickly familiarize ourselves with
the interface. Then, we would need to code the necessary
flight paths in iOS or Android using real-time flight data
from the quadcopter. Compared to the battery
interconnection, this would be a much more difficult
goal to achieve because of our limited experience with
iOS
or
Android
software.
However,
any
commercialized, tethered quadcopter that is being used
for communications purposes should not need to have a
user at the controls for the entirety of its flight, so this is
a very desirable function for our quadcopter. While an
autonomous flight path is not directly related to the
tethered operation of the quadcopter, it would make a
tethered quadcopter a much more usable platform.

11. Information Sources

All of the information regarding the project and drone
specifications came from Darren Liccardo, vicepresident of engineering at DJI. We have spoken
extensively with Tom Clark, Research Engineer II with
the mechanical engineering department at University of
California, Berkeley. Tom has provided us with
extensive assistance on the power transmission aspects
of the project. Most of the mechanical and systems
13

engineering design has come from our own experiences

on past projects, and we do not anticipate needing any
further help in that direction. We may speak to Tom
more about how to safely test the electrical components,
especially given that we will be dealing with high
voltage and high current systems.

12. Conclusion
For this project, we will modify a DJI Matrice 100 to
include a 100-foot tethered system that utilizes a DC
power system. It was determined that DC power
transmission in the tether was favorable over AC power
transmission due to the quadcopters payload limits. DC
power transmission will place less load on the
quadcopter because the only on-board addition will be a
buck converter, rather than a rectifier. Furthermore, we
will be using regulated voltage circuits to power the
converters instead of batteries to minimize the weight of
the drones. Based on our concept selection for the
tensioning system, we will be developing a groundbased, motor-controlled tensioning system while
emphasizing indefinite hovering capability, autonomous
tensioning, and safety. As we move forward with
development, we will be focusing on electrical safety as
we are dealing with high power circuits. Finally, we have
already purchased the majority of the necessary
electronics, the tensioning and landing designs have
been completed, and we will be following our Gantt
chart to maintain a strategic and effective timeline. If we
continue to follow our timeline and do not have to
confront any major unforeseen challenges, we will be
prepared to demonstrate a tethered M100 on April 29th,
2016.

6. LM78XX/LM78XXA 3-Terminal 1 A Positive

Voltage Regulator, Fairchild Semiconductor,
September 2014.
7. LMx93, LM2903 Dual Differential Comparators,
Texas Instruments, June 2015.
8. LM555 Timer, Texas Instruments, January 2015.
9. RURG3060 30A, 600V, Ultrafast Diode, Fairchild
Semiconductor, November 2013.
10. "Onboard SDK." DJI Developer. Web. 04 Mar.
2016.
11. Wire Bending Radius West Florida Components.
Web. 27 Mar. 2016.

References
1. M-100 Instruction Manual, v1.0, DJI, June 2015.
2. DJI Drone Project Team, DJI, January 2016.
3. Basic Calculation of a Boost Converters Power
Stage, Texas Instruments, January 2014.
4. Basic Calculation of a Buck Converters Power
Stage, Texas Instruments, January 2016.
5. FCA47N60/FCA47N60_F109 N-Channel
SuperFET MOSFET, Fairchild Semiconductor,
June 2014.
14

Appendix 1: Boost Converter Calculations

Appendix 2: Buck Converter Calculations

II

Appendix 3: Engineering Drawing of Final Base System

III

Appendix 4: Bill of Materials

Manufacturer

Part No.

Part Name

Unit Cost
(USD)

No. Units

Total Cost
(USD)

SparkFun

42BYGHM809

Stepper Motor

16.95

16.95

SuperBrightLEDs

WP18-2

18AWG Power Wire

0.19/ft

125 ft

23.75

Reds

B00L0GOMCA

Bones Bearings (x6)

14.25

14.25

The Pelican Store

47253

iM2200 Storm Case

104.60

104.60

Arduino

50

Uno R3

24.95

24.95

McMaster Carr

8974K28

Multipurpose 6061 Al

3.08/ft

3 ft

9.24

SainSmart

10201

Microstep Driver ST-M5045

N/A

Switching Power

LC-045

24VDC 14.6A 350W Supply

46.00

46.00

Fairchild Semiconductor

LM555CN

555 Timer

0.25

0.50

Fairchild Semiconductor

LM7812CT

Voltage Regulator

0.29

0.58

Fairchild Semiconductor

LM393N

Dual Comparator

0.29

0.58

Jameco

3201-H-VP

10 H Toroidal Inductor

1.25

16

20.00

Fairchild Semiconductor

RURG3060

Ultrafast Diode

2.81

5.62

Fairchild Semiconductor

FCA47N60F

N-Channel MOSFET

11.75

23.50

C&K Slide Switches

S802C31S2WCQ

2-Channel Slide Switch

6.09

6.09

IV

Appendix 5: Engineering Drawing of Tension Sensor