CHAPTER4

HARDWARE

Thischapterpr esentsThecomponent susedt oimplementt hequadcopt er

hardwarewhichsel ect
edaccordingtocert
ainrequir
ements,specif
icati
onsand
design considerati
ons.The quadcopt er payload,fli
ght duration,power
consumption,maxi mum alt
it
udeandmanyot herfactor
sarenecessar i
lyt
aken
i
nto accountdur i
ng the sel
ection pr
ocess.We wi l
lbri
efly explai
n every
componentusedi nourproj
ect.

4.
1Fr
ame

HJ450Frame: i
sthegl
assfi
berquadcopt
erf
ramewhichisver
ysimpleandeasyto
bui
ldfr
ame.Thi sFl
amewheeli
soneoft hemostpopul
arf
ramesoutther
efornumber
ofgoodreasons:

I
tist
heonl
yquadcopt
erf
ramet
ypeav
ail
abl
eont
hemar
keti
nYemen.

I
t’
srel
ati
vel
yinexpensi
ve

I
tisf
amousl
ydur
abl
e

Thecent
erpl
atedoubl
esasapowerdi st
ribut
ionboar
dwhichtidi
est
hingsup
qui
teabi
tandal
lowsustogetr
idofmyuglyDIYwir
inghar
ness.

Thedesi gnisreal
l
ywel lthoughtout–it’
sacompactf
rame.Plent
yofr
oom for
recei
ver,contr
olboard,ESCs,andbat t
ery,wi
thmount
ingopt
ionsandroom to
spareforaGoPr oorothercamerasetup.
 Asoneoft hemostpopul
arquadcopt
erfr
amesonthemar ket
,thereisawide
vari
etyofsparepar
tsandaccessori
estochoosef
rom suchasl andi
nggears,
gimbals,
etc.

Fi
g.(
4.1)HJ450Fr
ame(
F450)

4.
2El
ect
roni
cSpeedCont
rol
ler
s(ESC)
:

Electr
onicspeedcontrol (
ESC)isadev icethatcontrol
stherotat
ionalspeedoftheBLDC
mot or.Contr
olpinsoft heESCar econnectedt othefli
ghtcontrol
leroutput
.Thef li
ght
controll
ersendst hedesi redPWM v aluesf oreachmot orsandt heESC drivest he
mot orsaccordingtothesev al
ues.30ABLDCESCi susedf ort
hest atedpurpose.The
term( 30A)referst
ot hesizeoft heESCwhi chistheamountofampssuppl i
edf orthe
mot orconnectedtotheESC.Bef orethef i
rst
 Fi
g.(
4.2)St
andar
d30ABLDCESCEl
ect
roni
cSpeedCont
rol
ler

4.
2.1Feat
ures:

Hi
ghqual
i
tyMOSFETsf
orBLDCmot
ordr
ive

Highperfor
mancemi cr
ocont
rol
l
erf
orbestcompat
ibi
l
itywi
thal
lty
pesofmot
ors
atgreat
ereffi
ciency

Ful
l
ypr
ogr
ammabl
ewi
thanyst
andar
dRCr
emot
econt
rol

Thrott
lerangecanbeconf
igur
edt
obecompat
ibl
ewi
thanyr
emot
econt
rol
avail
abl
einthemar
ket

Aut
oLowBATTERYSl
owdownat3.
0V/
cel
lLi
po,
cut
-of
fat2.
9V/
cel
ll
ipo

4.
3Cont
rol
ler:

Quadsareinher
ent
lyunst
abl
etheyconstant
lyneedanonboar
dcomputertocal
cul
ate
thechangesinrot
orspeedsnecessar
ytostabil
izet
hequadandadj
ustthei
rspeeds
accor
dingl
y.

Acontrol
leractsasthebrai
nofthequadcopt
er,i
t’
sresponsi
blef
orallact
ionsaquad
canperformf r
om takeof
fandlandi
ngtoautonomousf li
ghtaswellascamer aand
sensor
scontrol
.
Forourproj
ectwechoseAPM 2. 8whi
chisanopensourceUAVpl at
for
m capabl
eof
cont
rol
li
ngmulti
-copt
ers,
fixedwi
ngcr
aft
saswellasgr
oundvehi
clesandboatsahead
byemployi
ngaGPSmodul e.

4.
3.1Feat
ures:

Ar
dui
noCompat
ibl
e

3-axi
sgyro,accel
eromet
erandmagnet
omet
er,al
ongwi
thahi
gh-
per
for
mance
baromet
er

Onboar
d4MPDat
afl
ashchi
pforaut
omat
icdat
aloggi
ng

Digi
tal
compasspower
edbyHoney
wel
l
'sHMC5883L-
TRchi
p,nowi
ncl
udedon
themainboar
d.

Opt
ionalof
f-
boar
dGPS,(anyTTLl
evelGPSshoul
dwor
k,mai
nchoi
cebei
ngt
he
uBl
oxLEA-6Hmodul
e).

I
ntenseness’
6DoFAccel
eromet
er/
Gyr
oMPU-
6000.

Bar
omet
ri
cpr
essur
esensor
,MS5611-
01BA03,
from Measur
ementSpeci
alt
ies.

Atmel'
s ATMEGA2560 and ATMEGA32U-
2 chi
ps f
orpr
ocessi
ng and USB
funct
ions.

4.
3.2Dat
asheet
s:

MPU-
6000,
Six-
Axi
s(Gy
ro+Accel
eromet
er)MEMSMot
ionTr
acki
ng.

HMC5883L-
TR,
3-Axi
sDi
git
alCompass.

LEA6GPS.

MS5611,
MEASHi
ghResol
uti
onAl
ti
met
er.
 Fi
g.(
4.3) APM i
nsi
dei
t’
spr
otect
ivecasi
ng

4.
4Mot
ors:

Wer equirehi ghqualit

yr eli
ablemot or swi thrapidr esponsei nor dertocont rolthe
quadcopt er .Ifoneorsev eralofthemot orsatsomepoi ntduri
ngaf li
ghtexper i
enceany
probl emsi twoul dbedev astati
ngf ort hequadcopt er,andcanatwor stendangert he
quadcopt eri tself
,propert
yandpeopl e.Fur ther
mor eitisimportantthatt hemot or sar e
power fulenough t o be abl et ol i
ftt he quadcopterand per f
or m v ar
ious aer ial
mov ement s.Weal sorequirethemot orst ohaveaf astresponseinor dert oensur ea
mor est ablef li
ght.Fi
nall
ywer equi
ret hatt hemot orsarecloset ovibrati
onf r
ee,asany
vibrationwi l
lcausenoi sei nourI MU measur ement s.Basedont hesecr i
teria’swe
decidedt ouseA2212KV1000Br ushlessMot or.Itisabr ushlessmot ordesi gnedf or
remot econt roll
edairpl
anesaswel lasquadcopt ers,andar econsideredt obehi ghly
reli
abl e.Ithav elongexper i
encewi thmot orsforRCai r
planesandquadcopt er
s, andt heir
mot or sar eknownf orbeingv i
brati
onf ree.

4.
4.1Adv
ant
agesofbr
ushl
essmot
orsVSbr
ushmot
ors:

Ther
eisnospar
kingandmuchl
essel
ect
ri
cal
noi
se.

Ther
ear
enobr
ushest
owearout
.

Wi
tht
heel
ect
romagnet
sont
hest
ator
,theyar
ever
yeasyt
ocool
.

Youcanhav
eal
otofel
ect
romagnet
sont
hest
atorf
ormor
epr
eci
secont
rol
.

Theonl
ydi
sadv
ant
ageofabr
ushl
essmot
ori
sit
shi
gheri
nit
ialcost
,buty
oucanof
ten
r
ecov
erthatcostt
hroughthegr
eat
ereffi
ciencyov
ert
heli
feofthemotor
.Thepol
eson
t
hestat
orofatwo-phaseBLDCmotorusedtopoweracomput
ercool
i
ngfan.

Fi
g.(
4.4)Br
ushl
essmot
orwi
ndi
ng Fi
g.(
4.2)A2212/
13T Br
ushl
essMot
or1000KV

4.
5Pr
opel
ler
s

Her eint hi
spr ojectquadcopt erther earisestheneedoft wot y pesofpr opell
er stoneed
thepur poseoff light.Apai rofcl ockwi se(CW)andant i
clockwi se( ACW)pr opel l
ersar e
needed.Thecar eshoul dbet akeni nf i
nal
izingt hedi mensi onsoft hepr opeller
s.A
propel l
erisat y peoff ant hatt ransmi tspowerbyconv ert
ingr otationalmot ioni nto
thrust.Apr essur edi f
ferencei spr oducedbet weent hef orwardandr earsur f
acesoft he
airfoil-
shapedbl ade,andaf luid( suchasai rorwat er)isaccel eratedbehi ndt hebl ade.
Propel l
erdy nami cscanbemodel ledbybot hBer noulli'
sprincipleandNewt on'st hir
dl aw.
Amar i
nepr opelleri ssomet i
mescol loquial
lyknownaspi t
choft hescr ew.Gener ally
,
i
ncr easedpr opellerpitchandl engthwi l
ldraw mor ecur rent.Al sot hepi tchcanbe
definedast het raveldistanceofonesi ngl
epr opr otati
on.I nanut shell
,hi gherpi tch
meanssl owerr ot ati
on,butwi lli
ncr easey ourv ehicl
espeedwhi chal sousemor epower .
Whendeci dingonl engthandpi tch,youneedt of i
ndagoodbal ance.Gener allyapr op
withl ow pitchnumber scangener atemor et orque.Themot or sdon’ tneedt owor kas
hardsoi tpul l
slesscur rentwitht histypeofpr op.

Wer
equi
rel
i
ghtpr
opel
l
erswi
thsi
zeandl
i
ftpot
ent
ialsucht
hatt
hequadcopt
ercan
hoveratlesst hen50%oft hemot orcapacit
y.Iti
sal
sopreferabl
ei fthepropell
ercan
survi
ve sof t bumps.For our quadcopter we choose plasti
c 10X4.5 pr opel
l
ers
(254mmx114mm)wi t
ht hei
rli
ghtweight.Thisisastandar
dpr opellerusedbymany
quadcopters.Thetot
allengt
hofthepropell
eris254mm whi
lethepitchis114mm.

Fi
g.(
4.3)Pr
opel
ler
s

4.
6PowerSuppl
y

Inordertof
lyanUAV,anenergysour
cei
sneeded.FormostUAVuses,
li
thi
um pol
ymer
batt
eriesar
eused(Li
Pobatteri
es)
,andt
heyareknownforthei
rhi
ghpowercapaci
ti
es
andlowpackweight
s.

4.
6.1Bat
ter
y

Al ithi
um polymerbattery,ormor ecorrectl
yl it
hium- i
onpol ymerbat tery( abbrevi
ated
variouslyasLi Po,LI
P,Li -pol
yandot hers),i sar echargeablebat t
eryofl i
thi
um-ion
technologyinapouchf ormat .Unli
kecy li
ndricalandpr i
smat i
ccel ls,Li Poscomei na
softpackageorpouch,whi chmakest hem l ighterbutal sol essr igi
d. Quadcopt ers
typical
lyuseLiPobat t
erieswhi chcomei nav ariet
yofsi zesandconf igurat
ions.We
typical
lyuse3S1Pbat t
eries,whi chindi
cates3cel l
si nparall
el.Eachcel lis3.7v ol
ts,so
thisbatter
yisratedat11.1v olts.Li
Pobat ter
iesal sohav eaCr ati
ngandapowerr at
ing
i
nmAh( whichstandsformi ll
i
ampsperhour ).TheCr ati
ngdescr ibest her ateatwhi ch
powercanbedr awnf r
om t
hebatt
ery
, andthepowerrati
ngdescri
beshowmuchpower
thebat t
erycansupply.Lar
gerbatt
eriesweighmor esot hereisalwaysat r
adeoff
betweenf l
i
ghtdurati
onandtot
alweight.Ageneralrul
eofthumbi sthatdoubl
i
ngthe
batt
erypowerwillgetyou50%moref l
ightti
me,assumingyourquadcopt
ercanli
ftt
he
addit
ionalwei
ght.

LiPobat t
erieshavethr
eemainthi
ngsgoingfort
hem t
hatmaket hem theperfect
batter
ychoi ceforRCplanesandev
enmor esoforRChel
icopt
ersoverconvent
ional
rechargeabl
ebatter
yty
pessuchasNiCad,
orNi
MH:

Li
Pobat
ter
iesar
eli
ghtwei
ghtandcanbemadei
nal
mostanyshapeandsi
ze.

LiPobat
ter
ieshav
ehi
ghdi
schar
ger
atest
opowert
hemostdemandi
ngel
ect
ri
c
motor
s.

Li
Pobat
ter
ieshol
dlot
sofpoweri
nasmal
lpackage

Justaswi thotherli
thium-i
oncell
s,LiPoswor kont hepr i
ncipleofintercal
ati
onand
deint
ercal
ati
on ofl i
thi
um ions fr
om a positi
ve electrode mat eri
aland a negat i
ve
elect
rodemat er
ial
,wit
ht hel
iqui
delect
rol
ytepr
ovidi
ngaconduct i
vemedi um.Topr ev
ent
the el
ectr
odes f r
om touchi
ng each otherdi
rectl
y,a mi cr
o por ous separat
ori sin
betweenwhichal l
owsonl yt
heionsandnottheelectrodepar ti
clestomi gr
atefrom one
sidetotheother.

Unli
keli
thium-
ioncyl
indr
icalandprismat
iccell
s,whichhav ear i
gidmet alcase,LiPo
cel
ls haveaf l
exi
ble,foil
-t
ype (pol
ymer l
ami nat
e) case,so t hey arer elat
ivel
y
unconst
rai
ned.Bythemselvesthecell
sareover20%l i
ghterthanequiv
alentcyli
ndri
cal
cel
lsofthesamecapacit
y.

Beingl
ight
weightisanadv antagewhent heappli
cationrequi
resminimum weight,such
asi nthecaseofr adi
ocont r
oll
edmodel s.Howev er,ithasbeeni nvesti
gatedthat
moderatepressureont hestackofl ayer
st hatcomposet hecellresul
tsinincreased
capaci
tyret
ention,becauset hecontactbetweent hecomponent sismaxi mizedand
del
aminati
onanddef or
mat i
oni sprevent
ed,whichisassoci at
edwi t
hincreaseofcell
i
mpedanceanddegr adation.
 Fi
g.(
4.1)Li
poBat
ter
y2200mAh,
11.
1V

4.
6.2PowerModul
e:

Becauset
hesameLi -Pobat t
erysuppli
esboththecontr
oll
er(
APM 2.8)andt hemotor
s,
a powermodul e controlsthe vol
tage acr
oss the t
wo according t
ot heiropt
imal
requir
ements.Apowermodul esplit
sthebatter
ycurr
enttothepowerdistr
ibuti
onboar
d
(totheESCs)andt hepowerpor tintheAPM 2. 8fl
ightcont
roll
er.Thepowermodul e
shouldbecaref
ull
yselectedsuchthattheconnect
ormatchesthatofthebatt
ery.

Inourprojectwehav eused3DRPowerModul ebecausethe3DRPowerModul eisa

simplewayofpr ovi
dingy ourcontrolboardwithdataofthecur r
entconsumpti
onand
volt
agemeasur ementsofaLi Pobat ter
ysot hatthecontrolboardcanestimatet
he
remaini
ngf l
ightdur
ationsaccordingtot heremaini
nganpowercapaci tyandthereal
ti
mecur r
entconsumpt ioncalcul
atedbyt herecei
veddata.This3DrPowerModulehas
thefunct
ionofBECwhi chcanprovidestabl
epowersupplytothecontr
olboard.
 Fi
g.(
4.1)3DRPowerModul
e

3.
7Radi
oCont
rol
ler

Inor dertocontr
olaquadcopt er,i
t’
snecessarytohaveint
ermedi
arycomponents
betweenquadcopteri
tsel
fandpil
oti
nguser
.Suchcomponent
sareessent
ialf
orpi
l
oting
becausetheydet
erminethebehavi
orofaquadcopt
er.

Pil
oti
ngaquadcopt ercanbequi teachal lengefornovicepilots,becauseaquadcopt er
canflyinvari
ous3Dspacedi rect
ions:leftandright,
tothefrontandback, upanddown.
The simplestand f ast
estwayt o star
tcont roll
i
ng a quadcopt eri s usi
ng a radio
control
l
er.Ar adioreceiveronthequadcopt erisneededt oreceiveradiofrequency(RF)
data.Thisdatai stransmitt
edbyar adiot r
ansmitt
er,contr
olledbyt heuser ,t
ocont r
ol
quadcopter’
sat t
it
ude.

I
nourproj
ectwehav eusedFl
yskyTransmitt
erandRecei
ver(
FS-
TH9Xt
ransmi
tt
erand
t
heFS-R9Brecei
ver)
whichhas8channels.

3.
7.1FS-
TH9Xt
ransmi
tt
er:

Thet ransmi tt
eri t
selfgener at esar adi ofrequencyal t
ernatingcur rent,whi chi sappl ied
tot heant enna.Whenexci tedbyt hisal t
er natingcur rent,theant ennar adiatesr adio
wav es.Thet er mtransmi tterisusual l
yl i
mitedt oequi pmentt hatgener atesr adiowav es
for communi cati
on pur poses;or r adiolocat i
on,such as r adar and nav i
gational
transmitters.A t r
ansmi t
t ercanbeasepar atepi eceofel ectr
oni cequi pment ,oran
electri
calcircuitwithinanot herel ect ronicdev i
ce.At ransmi t
terandr eceiv ercombi ned
i
n one uni ti s called a t ranscei ver.The pur pose ofmostt ransmi t
tersi sr adio
communi cation of i nf
or mat i
on ov er a di stance.The t ransmi tt
er combi nes t he
i
nf ormationsi gnalt obecar ri
edwi tht her adi of r
equencysi gnalwhi chgener atest he
radiowav es, whichisof t
encal l
edthecar ri
er .Thi sprocessi scalledmodul ati
on.Ar adio
transmitterisanel ectr
oni cci rcuit
,whi cht r
ansf or msel ectri
cpowerf rom abat t
eryor
electri
calmai nsintoar adi of r
equencyal ternatingcur rent,whi chr ev ersesdi rection
mi l
li
onst obi l
lionsoft i
mespersecond.Theener gyinsuchar apidlyr eversingcur rent
canr adiateof faconduct or(t heant enna)asel ectromagnet icwav es( radiowav es).
3.
7.2FS-
R9Br
ecei
ver
:

Ar adior ecei
verisanel ectr
oniccircuitthatreceivesitsi nputfrom anant enna,uses
electr
onicf i
lt
erstosepar at
eawant edr adiosignalfrom allothersignalspi ckedupby
thisantenna,ampl i
fiesitt oalevelsuitableforfurtherpr ocessi
ng,andf i
nallyconverts
throughdemodul ationanddecodi ngt hesi gnalintoaf orm usablefort heconsumer ,
suchassound,pi ctures,digit
aldata,measur ementv alues,navi
gationalposi ti
ons,et c.
Ther eceiverist her eceivi
ngendofacommuni cati
onchannel .Itr eceivesdecoded
messages/ i
nfor
mat i
on f rom the sender ,who f irstencoded t hem.Somet i
mes t he
receiverismodel led so ast oincludet hedecoder .Real -wor
ldr eceiversl i
ker adio
receiver
scannotbeexpect edtoreceiveasmuchi nformat i
onaspr edictedbyt henoi sy
channel codingtheor em.I nthegivenfigurebelow

RightSti
ck:Ther i
ghtsti
ckcontrol
srollandpi
tch.I
not
herwor
ds,i
tmov
esy
our
quadcopt
erl
eft
/ri
ghtandbackwar
ds/for
wards.

LeftStick: Thelef
tst
ickcontr
olsyaw andthr
ott
le.Inotherwords,i
trotat
esyour
quadcoptercl
ockwi
seorcount
ercl
ockwi
se,anditadjust
stheheightatwhichyouare
fl
yi
ng.

Fi
g.(
4.1)Fl
ySky
-2-
4G-
9CH-
FS-
TH9X-
Transmi
tt
er-
FS-
R8B-
Recei
ver
-Radi
o-Cont
rol

3.
8Gl
obalPosi
ti
oni
ngSy
stem(
GPS)
:

I
nor
dert
oper
for
m aut
onomoust
asks,suchasway
poi
nt-
gui
dedmi
ssi
ons,f
ail
sav
e
modeort osav ehomel ocati
on,aGPSsensori sneededt ogiv
eaccuratereadingabout
quadcopter
’s cur
r entpositi
on i
n 3D space.Wi th GPS,the usercan t r
ack down
quadcopter
’scurrentposit
ioninrealti
me.Al so,itgiv
esamor eaccuratereadingabout
quadcopter
’scurr
ental t
it
udeabov esealevel
, andonwi ndyenvir
onments,
GPSr eadi
ngs
i
mpr ove quadcopt er
’s curr
ent positi
on and al ti
tude holdi
ng. GPS sensor i t’
s
i
ndispensabl
ef orout doorquadcopterf l
i
ght s,sincefail
saf
emechani smsandot her
autonomoustasksr el
iesalmostcompletelyonGPSr eadi
ngs.

Fi
g.(
4.1)ubl
ox-
NEO-
7m-
GPS

3.
9Radi
oTel
emet
ry

Radi ot elemet r
yi samet hodf orcommuni cationbet weenAPM 2. 8andGr oundControl
Station(GCS) .Byusi ngradi ot elemet r
y,t her eceiv
er( Rx)isdirectlyconnectedtoAPM
2.8f li
ghtcont r
oller,andt het ransmi t
terdi rectl
yconnect edt oy ourcomputerorGCSas
well.Theser adiot r
ansmi ttersandr eceiversar ealreadypr eparedtoexchangeMi croAir
VehicleLi nk(MAVLi nk)dat abet weent hem,i fthechosendev i
cesuppor t
sAr duPi
lot
messagi ngpr otocol,MAVLi nk.Ther ear ev ariousradiot el
emet rydevices,
andeachone
hasdi fferentcommuni cationf requenci es,range,powerconsumpt i
onandcost .Mostly
radiot elemet rydev icesoper ateat433MHz( whichi sradiowehav eused).Inthis
dissertation,a3DRRadi oTel emet rykitwasusedf oritspriceandcompat ibi
lit
y.I
thasa
300m communi cati
onr ange, andi twasj ustusedf ort estpurposes.
 Fi
g.(
4.1)3DRRadi
oTel
emet
ryKi
t433Mhz

Appendi
xA
HARDWARESPECI
FICATI
ONS
Fr
ameSpeci
fi
cat
ions:
Model HJ450Fr
ame(
F450)

Fr
amewei
ght 282g

Di
agonal
Wheel
base 450mm

Takeof
fWei
ght 800g-
1600g
 Mat
eri
al Fi
berGl
ass,
Plast
ic&pol
yami
deny
lon

Ar
m Si
ze 23.
5*4.
9*5cm

El
ect
roni
cSpeedCont
rol
ler
s(ESC)Speci
fi
cat
ions:
Model St
andar
d30ABLDCESCEl
ect
roni
cSpeed
Cont
rol
l
er

Wei
ght 32gms

Di
mensi
ons 55x26x13mm(
LxWxH)

Col
or Yel
low

Cur
rent(
A) 30A

BEC 5V,
3Ampf
orext
ernalr
ecei
verandser
vos

Li
-Pol
y 2-
3cel
ls

I
nputv
olt
age 2-
4cell
sLit
hium Pol
ymer/Li
thi
um I
on
bat
ter
yor5-12cell
sNiMH/NiCd

Out
put 30Acont
inuous;
40Ampsf
or10seconds

A2212/
13T Br
ushl
essMot
orSpeci
fi
cat
ions:
Mot
orKV(
RPM/
V) 1000KV

Maxi
mum Ef
fi
ciency 80%

Wei
ght 64g

MaxEf
fi
ciencyCur
rent 4-10A(
>75%)

NoLoadCur
rent 0.
5A@10V

Resi
stance 0.
090ohms

MaxCur
rent 13Af
or60S

MaxWat
ts 150W
 Si
ze 28mm di
ax28mm bel
llengt
h

Shaf
tDi
amet
er 3.
2mm

Pol
es 14Model

Di
git
alRadi
oCont
rol
lerSy
stem

4.
1Tr
ansmi
tt
er(
FS-
TH9H)

4.
2Recei
ver(
FS-
R9B)
Appendi
xB

Component
sofQuadcopt
erDesi
gnedi
nSol
idWor
ks
Appendi
xC
Quadcopt
erUAVSi
mul
inkModel
sSubsy
stems
X-
axi
s

Y-
axi
s
 Al
t

Rol
l
ing

Pat
chi
ng
Yawi
ng