1. Aryal, Johnson, Labrado, Witte, Zhang
WCUAV Design
Aryal, Johnson, Labrado, Witte, Zhang

2. WCUAV Competition Objective
Design, fabrication, and utilization of unmanned aircraft to assist with counter poaching and illicit wildlife trafficking.
Autonomously fly around the reservation while scanning for poachers and other suspicious activity.
The team’s goal is to obtain maximum possible points while staying under budget.
WCUAV Design - Team U

3. WCUAV Competition Scoring Objective
WCUAV Design - Team U

4. Conceptual Design Overview
Fixed-wing gasoline powered aircraft
Autonomous flight following predetermined waypoints
Telemetry to ground station via long range low bandwidth 900MHz radio
Fixed high resolution camera will acquire images at a low rate to be analyzed and also have the ability to stream live video
Images stored on chosen embedded CPU system and processed to find potential threats
Camera’s video stream will be transmitted through short range 5.8 GHz radio
The RC transmitter and receiver will communicate on 2.4 GHz frequency to reduce possible interference with other systems.
Once the embedded system identifies a target, a serial data message will be sent to the ground station identifying GPS location as well as confidence rating that the target is a threat
Ground Station controller chooses to patrol or ignore the threat
If chosen to pursue, aircraft will orbit the identified target and switch camera to streaming mode
If chosen to ignore, the aircraft will continue to follow its specified route
As rangers get closer to specified location video stream will become available and they will be able to control the camera via the gimbal
Note: A viable solution to the metal detection and RFID requirements was not found.
WCUAV Design - Team U

5. Conceptual Design - Schematic
WCUAV Design - Team U

6. Individual Components
Aircraft
Senior Telemaster plus
DLE Gasoline Engine
Communications
Long range radio – Xtend 900 1W RPSMA
Short range video streaming radio – 5.8GHz 600mW Tx
RC transmitter/receiver – Futaba
Imagery
GoPro Hero 3+ Silver
Embedded System
ODroid U3
WCUAV Design - Team U

7. Scoring- Aircraft
WCUAV Design - Team U

8. Aircraft Senior Telemaster Plus DLE Engine Servos
2.3 m wingspan
Typically ~ 12 lbs fully loaded
Chosen for robustness as well as the larger fuselage for payload
DLE Engine
Gas engine used in order to acquire maximum points for endurance (120 min – 40 points)
Servos
Futaba S3003 (5)
Autonomous take off and recovery
An autopilot controlled launch, Ideally with the use of a launcher
Autonomous landing on runway
WCUAV Design - Team U

9. Avionics Autopilot: PixHawk QGroundControl (QGC)
Open source & low cost (≈ $280including a 3DR GPS + Compass)
Flexible/Reliable
NuttX RTOS
Linux like programming environment
Custom PX4 driver layer
Protocol: MavLink
QGroundControl (QGC)
2/3D aerial map
Real-time data plotting and manipulation of waypoints and parameters
WCUAV Design - Team U

10. Scoring – Imagery
WCUAV Design - Team U

11. Optical Sensors GoPro Hero 3+ Silver ($300)
High resolution, low rate still mode: 10MP/10fps
5.8GHz
Video mode: 720p/60fps (maximum: 1080p/60fps)
2.4GHz
USB connection with Odroid U3
Servo-controlled gimbal mount
Near Infra-red (NIR) modification
Remote control of all functionalities: GoPro App
WCUAV Design - Team U

12. Stabilization Custom-designed 2-axis gimbal and pan/tilt mount
HiTEC HS-645MG servos
PixHawk will control the servos to stabilize the camera by using gyro data
Rangers can control through 2.4GHz onboard RC
Cost: $85
WCUAV Design - Team U

13. Scoring - Communications
WCUAV Design - Team U

14. Communications Xtend 900 1W RPSMA 40 mile range UART interface
2.8V to 5.5V, 730 mA
902 MHz to 928 MHz
WCUAV Design - Team U

15. Communications 5.8GHz 600mW Tx 5.8 GHz frequency 6-25V (2S-6S LiPo) 3W
WCUAV Design - Team U

16. Scoring – Embedded Systems
WCUAV Design - Team U

17. Image Processing Controls the rate at which photos are taken.
Use OpenCV to process photos from the camera to search for points of interest.
Archives images onboard for later review.
Communicate with other systems when suspicious activity has been detected so that appropriate measures can be taken.
WCUAV Design - Team U

18. Image Processing Odroid-U3 1.7 GHz Quad-Core processor 2 GB RAM
3x USB 2.0 ports
5V, 2A input
$65
WCUAV Design - Team U

19. Batteries 3S 2S 2 X LiPo 3S 5200mAh, 30C Odroid/Stabilization
Autopilot/Radios 2S
Turnigy 5000mAh 2S 20C Lipo Pack
Servos
WCUAV Design - Team U

20. Mass-Weight-Cost Table
Category
Component Name
Price
Weight (g)
Size (cm)
Power consumption
Embedded System / Onboard computer
ODroid - U3
$65.00 48
8.3 x 4.8
10 W
High resolution camera
GoPro 3
$300.00 74
3 hrs with builtin battery
Autopilot
3DR Pixhawk
$280.00 38
5.0 x 1.55 x 8.15
250 mW (fmu only)
Streaming communications
Immersion RC
$79.00 18
5.0 x 2.3 x 1.5
600 mW
Autopilot communications
XTend 900 1W RPSMA
$184.95
3.65 x 6.05 x 0.51
1 W
Airframe and Engine
Senior Telemaster
$600.00
4082
163 x 239
Servos including stablilization
Futaba
$85.00
245
4.0 x 2.0 x 3.6 5V
Batteries (3S)
LiPo 3S 5200mAh, 30C
$110.00
760
Batteriy (2S)
5000 mah 2S 20C
$16.00
280
14.8 x 4.9 x 1.6
Total
$1,703.95
5283
3.85 W
WCUAV Design - Team U

21. Conclusions Goal to create UAV for WCUAV
Tried to work at higher level of abstraction
Full computer with Odroid
Unix-like real time system with messaging queue with NuttX
OpenCV for computer vision
Flexible autopilot (Px4)
Had to use gas engine for maximum flight time
Budget was fairly minimal
WCUAV Design - Team U