Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matpr

Design and development of a nano drone – A real time UAV

Krishna Kant Pandey a, *, Saroj Kumar b, Prakhar Jain c, Uttam Kumar d
a
Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Manipal University Jaipur, Jaipur 303007, Rajasthan, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineeering, O.P. Jindal University, Raigarh, Chhatisgarh 496109, India
c
Department of Mechanical Engineeering, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, Punjab 147004, India
d
Department of Mechatronics Engineeering, School of Engineering, Ajeenkya DY Patil University, Pune 412105, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: One of the most widespread applications of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles is in aerial photography and
Quadrotor videography. The type of drones that accomplish this job are called camera drones that are unmanned aerial
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) vehicles in quadrotor configuration. Even though there are camera drones available in the market, most of them
Aerial Photography
are not easy to acquire, setup and operate legally without registration and permission from authority for every
Sub 250 Grams Drone
flight. This is mainly due to the reason most camera drones in the market that are capable exceed 250 g which is
the maximum limit for any drone in India to operate legally without registration and permission. This can be very
restricting for consumers but mainly photographers and content creators. The objective of this project is to design
and develop a camera drone drive and control system platform that is essentially a quadrotor for aerial
photography that weighs within 35 g excess of the weight falling under Nano category according to Directorate
General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Despite this weight and space restriction, the functionality of the drone shall
not be greatly sacrificed.

1. Introduction
Camera drones have revolutionized the field of aerial photography in
several ways. Being just as capable as traditional helicopters with
camera rigs at capturing photos in many cases, camera drones success­
fully were able to replace traditional helicopters because the cost of
ownership of a camera drone is significantly cheaper than renting a
traditional helicopter for an aerial photo every time. Unlike traditional
helicopters, camera drones can operate autonomously and being un­
manned means they can be scaled down to very small sizes greatly
reducing cost and space.
Camera drones are easy to set up and easy to operate in most con­
ditions with good regulations, their small size lets them fly even in tight
spaces where larger, traditional aircraft will have difficulty. By bringing
all these advantages to the table, camera drones made getting into the
field of aerial photography much easier and practical by making the
technology accessible to consumers and individual and small- scale
professionals.
The value camera drones brought to the field of aerial photography
due to several reasons including ones mentioned above made them
commercially successful in markets of many countries. However, in our
country they were not very successful due to the nature of regulations
imposed on unmanned aerial systems.
From Fig. 1, most camera drones in the market weigh greater than
250 g and require registration and permission from authority to operate
legally in our country. Larger camera drones also cost significantly more
not making them affordable for consumers, hobbyists or a professional
starting their career. Therefore, proposed work is based on design and
development of low cost nano camera drone having weight less than or
equals to 250 g.
1.1. Literature
Past work on surveys and projects involving use of various existing
flight control platforms helped in reaching a decision to choose Ardu­
Pilot as the flight control platform for the Nano Drone. The survey on
available open-source flight control platforms for unmanned aerial ve­
hicles features the key differences in the licensing of two popular flight
control platforms: ArduPilot and PX4 [1]. A review on existing autopi­
lots for MAVs concludes that autopilots based on open- source platforms
offer most of the functionality more expensive proprietary autopilots
offer [2]. A project on building a quadrotor testbed based on open-

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kknitrkl@yahoo.in (K.K. Pandey).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2023.09.083
Received 18 February 2023; Received in revised form 10 July 2023; Accepted 11 September 2023
2214-7853/Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 4th Innovative
Product Design and Intelligent Manufacturing Systems.

Please cite this article as: Krishna Kant Pandey et al., Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2023.09.083
K.K. Pandey et al.
Fig. 1. State of the market.
source platform highlights the flexibility and efficiency of using open-
source platforms in rapid prototyping [3].
An indoor quadcopter project based on Arduino platform concluded
that the Arduino platform as a not suitable platform for flight controller
due to its limitations in the processing power of the microcontroller
ATMega328P hence, cannot run more sophisticated flight control soft­
ware such as ArduPilot or PX4 for autonomous capabilities [4]. A paper
on an alternate flight control platform: Paparazzi showed promising
features to consider it as a platform to build the Nano Drone on but the
lack of wide range of hardware support qualified the consideration
compared to other platforms [5].
Previous work on automating the function of drones and solutions for
navigating in GPS-denied environments such as indoors concluded the
use of an optical flow sensor as the most economical yet functional
option for the Nano Drone. An optical flow sensor module consisting of a
CMOS camera to estimate horizontal position and an ultrasonic range­
finder for vertical altitude for indoor navigation was proposed [6]. A
paper on the design of an indoor quadcopter utilized both the optical
flow and SLAM techniques to achieve indoor navigation, but the hard­
ware required for SLAM was expensive and exceeds the size and weight
limitations of the Nano Drone [7].
Ways to implement obstacle avoidance have also been explored. A
paper on implementing obstacle avoidance using Kino dynamic plan­
ning gave an insight on obstacle avoidance in drones [8], but the
hardware setup used is not feasible for Nano Drone. Existing work on
simplifying the operation of drones was explored as well. A smartphone
app was developed for controlling quadrotors using nudge control
[9,10]. Even though the control interface is intuitive for most users, the
quadrotor requires a reliable datalink and position stability for this to
successfully operate.
2. Proposed system
2.1. Conceptual design of the prototype
Based on the required functionality for the prototype drone to
perform the given task, the following conceptual design of the system
gives the basis for the component requirements. The system consists of
primarily two controllers: Flight Control Unit (FCU) and an Electronic
Speed Controller (ESC). The flight control unit is necessary for a quad­
copter UAV because it is a neutral system by nature. Which means any
disturbances will permanently displace the quadcopter from its desired
state. Such a behaviour is not desirable for a controlled, level hover at a
single place. The flight controller augments active stability to the drone
and makes it a stable system. The flight controller achieves it by using a
proportional- integral-derivative (PID) controller for various axes with
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Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
feedback from onboard and peripheral sensors such as an inertial mea­
surement unit (IMU) for attitude, barometer for altitude, GPS unit for
horizontal position in outdoor environments, an optical flow sensor that
consists of an image sensor pointing downwards to estimate horizontal
position in environments without GPS and a LiDAR rangefinder to es­
timate precise altitude in indoor environments where the barometer
cannot estimate reliably due to the fluctuations in air pressure and a
magnetometer that is within the GPS module for heading that is required
for navigation. The magnetometer is connected as a peripheral instead
of having it onboard to isolate it from magnetic fields generated by the
high current electronic speed controller (ESC) that causes interference
with the earth’s magnetic field hence, distorting heading information
and affecting navigation ability of the drone.
The flight control software in the flight controller executes functions
such as estimating the state of the drone, controlling the drone by
outputting corrective signals for actuation and navigation functions such
as trajectory planning and tracking (Fig. 2). The flight control software
used in the flight controller determines the platform. Based on the
highlights from the literature review, ArduPilot is chosen as the flight
control software for the Nano Drone.
The Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) drives and controls the
brushless motors. It takes a DC power input from the battery pack and
switches it to AC waveform with square shape to drive the motors. The
flight controller sends the signals to the ESC that sets the speed of each
motor through D-shot protocol. The below Table 1 consists of the overall
requirement of components for the project.
2.2. Development of the prototype
The quadcopter frame provides structure to the drone and houses all
the components; hence the frame should be developed with all the
possible forces exerted by the components and surroundings considered.
In addition to considering the mechanical aspects of design, a good
quadcopter frame also considers the aerodynamic effects of the pro­
pellers such as downwash, tip vortices and dihedral effects for efficiency
and flight performance. This project focuses on frame development that
is durable and modular for prototyping. Parts of the frame shall be able
to sustain impact during minor crashes and in case the frame breaks, it
should be easily repairable. Strategic planning of mounts for the com­
ponents makes it easier to access and place a wide range of components
without having to make modifications and manufacture a new unit to
accommodate new components.
The frame consists of four parts: Top and Bottom plates, Arms and
GPS unit holder. In addition, landing gear can also be added to provide
clearance for components or payload mounted under the drone. The top
and bottom plates are held together by standoffs. Each part is designed
in a separate file and then brought together into a single assembly file.
This makes it easier to make changes to the parts individually and
automatically reflect in the assembly. Perforations are made instead of a
solid fill to reduce weight while maintaining rigidity. Mounts for the
flight controller, electronic speed controller (ESC) and the single-board
computer (SBC) are strategically designed to accommodate a wide range
of mounts various parts have for quick drop-in replacement for rapid
prototyping. Figs. 3 & 4 depict the 2D and 3D view of the proposed
frame.
Two types of FEA analysis (Figs. 5 & 6) are performed on the frame
without the landing legs: Static load analysis at hover conditions and
Modal analysis to find the natural frequencies of the parts. For static load
testing, the arms of the drone are given remote loads of 62.5 (grams) in
the upward direction with the bottom plate fixed, summing up to the
target GTOW of the quadcopter which is 250 (grams). The results were
promising as the loads are nowhere near close to the yield stress of the
ABS material. The maximum stress on the frame at hover conditions is 1/
13 of the yield stress achieving a safety factor of 13. The scale of load at
hover condition is so small that the designed frame could easily handle
which is proven by the FEA results.
K.K. Pandey et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 2. Conceptual design of the prototype control and drive system.

Table 1
Prototype Requirements.
Component Name Quantity Component Type

Matek H743 Mini 1 Flight Control Unit

Aikon AK32PIN 25A
TBS Podracer 1505 3600KV
Gemfan Hurricane 4024
Orange 2200mAh, 2S
Matek M8Q 5883
Cubepilot Hereflow
1 Electronic Speed Controller
4 Brushless Motor
4 Propeller
1 Lithium-Polymer Battery Pack
1 GPS Unit
1 Optical Flow Sensor

Fig. 4. 3D view of the frame assembly.

systems (MEMS) that are sensitive to vibrations. With the feedback data
corrupted with noise from vibrations, the flight controller cannot reli­
ably estimate its orientation to generate corrective output causing sta­
bility issues while flying the drone. Flight control software do account
for this effect by implementing a low-pass filter (LPF) since the required
data for orientation are of low frequency, all the remaining data in the
higher frequency range is essentially noise which is rejected by the filter.
Results from the modal analysis provide various natural frequencies
of the frame. To prevent vibration issues, the natural frequencies of the
frame should be higher than the cut- off frequency of the LPF which is
80 Hz by default. This can be further adjusted based on the frame vi­
bration characteristics. In such a case, even if the resonance occurs
within an acceptable amplitude, the vibrations are rejected by the LPF,
ensuring reliable performance of the flight controller. The results below
show that the natural frequencies of the frame are higher than the cut-off
frequency for the LPF, hence the designed frame is free of vibration
related problems.

2.3. Building and testing the prototype frame

Fig. 3. Drawing of the frame.
Vibrations in a quadcopter frame occur due to resonance of frame
with the components that produce vibrations i.e., motors and propellers
due to the intrinsic mass imbalance from imperfections during
manufacturing. Performing modal analysis helps in determining
whether the frame is susceptible to severe vibrations that significantly
affect the performance of the flight controller. This is because quad­
copter flight controllers are feedback controllers that rely on informa­
tion from inertial measurement units (IMUs) to estimate the state to
compare it with the desired state and make corrections. An IMU consists
of an accelerometer and a gyroscope which are microelectromechanical
After the design and analysis of the frame, the parts of the prototype
were 3D-printed (Fig. 7) in ABS plastic and assembled using stainless
steel screws and aluminum spacers. The components fitted (Fig. 8) into
the frame as expected with no issues. The weight of the prototype is
within 35 g excess of the target which offers a good starting point for
further development and refinement.
Fig. 9 shows the real time experiment of the proposed model. The
model run for 45 min to check the stability (Flight Time with payload
and dead weight of a UAV) of the proposed model. Table 2 indicates the
flight time study for different environments. In Table 2, third case
represent the flight time in open ground. Due to presence of Free Air the

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K.K. Pandey et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 5. Static load analysis of the frame.

Fig. 6. Modal analysis of the frame at (a) 225.7 Hz, (b) 416.7 Hz.

flight time is reduced in the Ground. The flight height in the ground is
second parameter due to that the flight time was reduced.

3. Conclusions

In this work, a conceptual design and development of low-cost nano

Fig. 7. Partial assembly of the prototype.
Drone was proposed, and based on flight time for surveillance applica­
tions suitable components were selected. Based on the size constraints of
the components, a frame was designed and developed to house the
components to test the system. The frame was designed using the CAD
workspace in Autodesk Fusion 360 and evaluated using static and modal
analysis tools in the FEA workspace in Fusion 360. After successful
design and analysis, the components were assembled onto the frame
assembly and successfully tested. During the testing phase analysis gone
through the flight timing that was included both conditions i.e., with
payload and without payload. For condition with payload, five iterations
were taken in real time environment. For each iteration, the flight time is
recorder grater that 45 min. The application of the proposed work is
related to short term surveillance (less than 45 min) such as structural,
agricultural and defence work.

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K.K. Pandey et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Software, Writing – review & editing. Prakhar Jain: Resources. Uttam

Kumar: Formal analysis, Resources.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial

interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.

Data availability

Data will be made available on request.

References

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Fig. 8. Full assembly of the prototype with GTOW.
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS).
[8] IEEE, 2015.archive/macros/latex/contrib/supported/IEEEtran/.
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Fig. 9. Successful flight of the quadcopter.

Table 2
Flight Time study.
Sl. No. Environments Flight Time (in Minutes) With Payload

1 Inside Room 59 Yes

2 Outside Room 55 Yes
3 Ground 50 Yes

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Krishna Kant Pandey: . Saroj Kumar: Project administration,