Design and fabrication of a mini-UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)

• Main Author: Goh, Guo Liang
• Other Authors: Zhong Zhaowei
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Aircraft
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/64606
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The purpose of this project is to design a suitable quad copter that is capable of doing autonomous flight and performing semi-autonomous landing on moving platform. In this project, an unmanned aerial vehicle system (UAVS) which includes a quad copter, control algorithm of quad copter and movable landing platform is developed. The developed system is a quad copter that is capable of autonomous flight control and also capable of doing semi-autonomous landing on moving platform. This report outlines the several key designs and features of the developed UAVS. First, the overall system architecture is discussed. The system architecture includes several components such as ground station, quad copter and movable landing platform which are connected to each other using telemetric devices. Next, a quad copter and landing platform equipped with required sensors are designed and assembled. Besides, the material selection and choice of design for the quad copter and landing platform are also discussed. Apart from that, several experiments are conducted to determine the characteristic of the motor. The experimental result of the determination of the property of motor is then plotted and discussed. Besides, the integration of hardware and software of the system is also discussed in this report. A detailed discussion on the assimilation of the Arducopter firmware and control algorithm developed is also presented in this report. Lastly, the control algorithm developed by the project collaborator is tested using the developed quad copter in several flight tests. It is found that the attitude, altitude, and the position of the quad copter can be control using the control algorithm developed. On top of that, the control algorithm for landing manoeuvre is validated via the flight test and the quad copter successfully landed on the moving platform.