SmartCopter Group #3 Alvilda Rolle Brian Williams Matthew Campbell Sponsors Nelson Engineering Co Rogers, Lovelock, and Fritz Architecture University of Central Florida

Introduction SmartCopter is a device that is mounted to the underside of a RC helicopter and records flight data. Such as acceleration, rotation, current heading, and current video. All while streaming video from the helicopter. Motivation To understand the dynamics of RC helicopter flight To create a starting point for autonomous designs

Goals To record flight data Acceleration in x, y, and z axis Rotation about the x, y, and z axis. Altitude Magnetic Heading To record video Overlay flight information in post-production If time permits

Helicopter Description ESKY BELT CP RC Helicopter Brushless motor Belt driven tail rotor More control Lower failure rate Capable of aerobatic flight

Helicopter Description

Position & Orientation Frame of reference Space Frame Body Frame Main Rotor Frame Pitch, roll, yaw Euler angles (shown on next page)

Helicopter Description

Flight Surfaces Main Rotor Speed in RPMs Beta Angles or Pitch Collective Pitch Tail Rotor Pitch

Power Management Battery  Lithium Polymer  11.1V 1800mAh 20C 3-Cell high capacitance Li-Po battery  Advantages  Quantity: 2  Replaces Lithium-Ion Power Supply  Battery  Speed controller – regulates voltage supplied to motor  Motor - functions as a converter of electrical energy to kenitc Motor Control  Esky KV brushless motor  Advantages: longer lifetime, higher efficiency  No brushes Kv: 3800 RPM/V No Load Current: 2.0A Resistance: - Max Voltage: 12V Max Current: 20A Max Watts: 220W Weight: 58 g / 2.04 oz Size: 27.7 mm x 30 mm Shaft Diameter: 2.3 mm Poles: 6

Servos  Standard vs. Digital  Control flight device  Uses error sensing feedback to provide correction  Maintain position  3 wire control usage: ground wire, signal wire, power wire  Receives a series of pulses sent over a control wire that control the angle of the actuator arm  Connected to linkage that connects to swashplate

Flight Data System- Hardware

Accelerometers  Used to measure acceleration forces  Helps determine orientation  Triple Axis Accelerometer –ADXL 335  Low noise and power consumption  Polysilicon surface  Mechanical sensors for X,Y, and Z axis  Used with operating voltages above Vs = 3V, single-supply operation: 1.8V to 3.6V  Low power: 350 uA (typical)  Great temperature stability, fully assembled  Other possibilities: Triple Axis Accelerometer Breakout – SCA3000

Gyros  Mechanical vs. Piezoelectric  Pointed nose detection  Gyro Breakout Board - IDG500 Dual 500 degree/sec  Uses 2 sensor elements that sense the rate of rotation about the X and Y axis  Heading Hold (HH) vs. Yaw Rate (YR)  Noise filtering  Other considerations: IMU 5 Degrees of Freedom IDG500/ADXL335 vs. Gyro Breakout Board + Triple Axis Accelerometer Breakout *The Inertia Measurement Unit

TypeLV- MaxSonar- EZ2 XL- MaxSonar- EZ4 XL- MaxSonar- AE2 XL- MaxSonar- WR1 XL- MaxSonar- WRA1 Easy to use interface Yes Has noise canceling SomeYes Outdoor use*No Yes Automatic Calibration..* * On power up only Yes Cost$30.00$55.00 $ Ultrasonic Range Finder  Measure distances between moving and/or stationary objects  Ping sensor  Ultrasonic Range Finder - Maxbotix LV-EZ2  Quantity: 2, *Not specifically designed for outdoor use, but device can be mounted so that the sensor is protected from element exposure **Automatic Calibration to Compensate for Changes in Temperature, Noise, Humidity, and Voltage

GPS EM-406A SiRF Star III Chipset Accuracy of 5 meters 42 second average initialization time Updates every second TTL interface Formatted String output

GPS

Microcontroller Hardware – PIC 18F4550 – 40-pin configuration – 13 A/D channels 10 bit accuracy – CCP and ECCP modules Support of 5 PWM channels – Operating Frequency of up to 48MHz – USB capabilities – ICSP Programming ability

Microcontroller

More Hardware 32k of program memory 2k of data memory 256 bytes of EEPROM 75 Instructions 83 w/ Extended Instructions Enabled 20 Interrupt Sources

SD Card Interface SD Card Pin Out 1. Chip Select 2. DI 3. GND 4. VDD (+3.3V) 5. CLK 6. GND

SD Card Interface Flight data stored onto SD Card to be read after the flight Includes time stamp so that video can be synced with data FAT32 file system SPI interface

Embedded Software C18 Programming Language

Embedded Software GPS Reader Does Updates GPS via serial communications Knows Current Location Previous Location Analog Reader Does Manages the A/D Converter Updates sensor data Knows Values from each A/D channel

Embedded Software Sensor Reader Does Initializes Readers Manages data from sources File Writer Does Writes flight data to SD card

Embedded Software Controller Does Initializes components Relays data to File Writer Manages timing between data updates and file writes Knows Current time Current state Init Waiting on Data Writing Data Close

Base Station Software Created using Java Media Framework GUI containing recorded flight video and data

TESTING Financial burden Maintain structural integrity Timeline setback Crash could result in potential failure

TESTING PROCEDURES Flight Simulator Manual Flight Controls Ultrasonic Range Finder GPS HeliCam Software RF System Wireless Transmission

FLIGHT SIMULATOR Flight simulator testing will allow the team to learn the fundamentals of the helicopter flight controls.

FLIGHT SIMULATOR Crashing the actual helicopter is a must to avoid! Upon successful completion of the flight simulator, the team will fly the actual helicopter.

TESTING LOCATION Proper testing location Large area Minimal traffic Terrain composition Soft soil Grass Close proximity to two team member’s homes

TESTING ACCOMODATIONS Maximize productivity and efficiency on test days. Additional batteries Transceiver Helicopter Close access to electricity, computer, and shelter in the event of unexpected weather.