Radio controlled aerial vehicles You probably call them “drones”

Today’s drone – A Flying camera

Yesterday’s drone – Weapon of War

Drones from 1987 – Agricultural drone

What is a “drone” Definition varies depending on the source Webster’s dictionary: 3 :  an unmanned aircraft or ship guided by remote control or onboard computers. Key feature is unmanned flying vehicle May be autonomous or Radio controlled Does not mean “Quadrotor helicopter” but includes them.

Early days of drones Early drones were radio controlled model airplanes first flown in 1917. Used simple AM radios, gas motors, and actuators (solenoids) Servos for more precise control came around the 1950’s. FM radios became popular in the late 1980’s. The term drone didn’t refer to unmanned aircraft until the mid 1990’s. Was reserved mostly for military vehicles. Electric aircraft became common in early 2000’s.

Key technological developments Radio transmitters and receivers Video systems Electronic stabilization Microcontrollers GPS Battery/motor technology

Radio transmitters (control) Classic RC radio Computer hand controller

History of control Early controllers were single joystick AM radios By the 1960’s – 4 channel control By 1980’s Frequency modulation Early 2000’s – FHSS (frequency hopping Spread Spectrum Today – Tablet computers or mobile phones often combined with a 2 joy stick FHSS radio

Video systems First systems were wireless security cameras Benefits: Convenient 12V power system Relatively small and light Inexpensive Problems Low resolution Short range Very heavy for small aircraft Use same frequencies as control

Improvements (hacks) to security systems Smaller/lighter cameras Better antennas

Antenna systems Circular polarized omni Long Range directional

Improvements to security systems Smaller/lighter components – Allow fitting to smaller vehicles Circularly polarized antennas – Greatly improved video clarity and capability Directional antennas – Improved range to more than 50 miles Digital systems – High definition video feed

A view from the pilot’s seat

Electronic stabilization

Early stabilization – The Multi Wii Nintendo Wii’s nunchuck controller has built-in gyros to sense movement. This was connected to an inexpensive Arduino microcontroller to read and communicate.

MultiWiiCopter One of the first multirotor projects which combined the Wii stabilization system with an Arduino microcontroller to connect with a common RC radio.

Improvements since MultiWii All-in-one boards cost ¼ the price and are significantly smaller Addition of accelerometers User-friendly programming interfaces such as CC3D copter control, Baseflight, and ClaeanFlight applications Addition of GPS positioning

The heart of the Flight controller Arduino microcontroller Programmer interface

GPS Systems

GPS systems GPS systems allow the drone to know where it is at any time. This opened the gateway for better stability control as well as autonomous control.

Power systems – The brushless motor Drones are mostly electric and are driven by brushless DC electric motors. Usually, these are direct driven outside runners which produce a large amount of torque and relatively low RPM.

The brushless outrunner Significantly improved efficiency (often 80+%) Very high power-to-weight ratio (3 Watts per gram of motor) Variable motor timing through the controller Inexpensive to manufacture Does not require a gearbox to turn a large propeller Virtually maintenance free

Brushless DC motor controller The sensorless brushless DC motor controller creates an AC sychronous signal to the brushless motor. It senses position by electrical feedback. Modern controllers even use predictive timing for high speed applications.

Power systems: The Lithium battery Without the lithium battery, the modern drone would not be possible. Their incredibly high power to weight ratio coupled with the extremely high discharge rates (can discharge fully in 3 minutes) makes them the power systems choice for the modern drone.

The Future of the Drone Aerial photography Weapons of war

The Future of the drone Package delivery Agriculture

FPV Racing First Person Video (or FPV) racing is the fastest growing tech sport in the World.

Race video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77FFSXipCks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIa6T2dU9SQ