1. Rolling Spider
Shaw STEM Lab 2017

2. Objectives By the end of this Engagement you should be able to
Explain the forces on an airplane or drone
Describe the correct directional terms related to aviation
Explain the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) guidelines for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
Explain the difference between UAVs and drones
Objectives

3. The FAA has strict guidelines for operating UAVs
Watch the two videos below to get started about learning them!
The Federal Aviation Administration’s Guidelines for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

4. When soaring through the air, there are four different forces that act on or help the plane travel: Lift, Thrust, Drag and Gravity (weight).
Forces on a plane

5. Yaw, Pitch, Roll, & Altitude
Yaw, pitch, roll, and altitude are the terms used to describe how an aircraft moves in the air.
Yaw is the rotation around the vertical axis top to bottom(shown in red).
Pitch is the rotation around the horizontal axis from the left and right side of the airplane(shown in green).
Roll is the rotation around the horizontal axis from the front and back of the airplane (shown in purple).
Altitude is the height of an object off of the ground or surface (shown in yellow).
Yaw, Pitch, Roll, & Altitude

6. How does a UAV fly with no wings?
Most UAVs are actually considered to be quadcopters. That means they have four (quad) propellers that spin to let them fly.
To move a quadcopter the four propellers must spin at different times, speeds and directions. The picture below shows the different directions the propellers spin.
What do you notice about how the propellers spin?
Let’s look at each of the four different ways our aircraft could move:
yaw, pitch, roll, and altitude
How does a UAV fly with no wings?
Blue Arrow = Front of aircraft
White Arrow = Direction of rotation for the propeller

7. For the aircraft to gain altitude, the four propellers must spin at the same speed with enough force to propel the aircraft up.
How would it lower its altitude?
Altitude
Blue Arrow = Front of aircraft
Green Arrow= More Power
Yellow Arrow= Less Power

8. Yaw For the plane to yaw two of the propellers spin faster.
Notice which propellers are spinning faster to cause the aircraft to yaw left and right.
Yaw
Blue Arrow = Front of aircraft
Green Arrow= More Power
Yellow Arrow= Less Power

9. Pitch For the plane to pitch two of the propellers spin faster.
Notice which propellers are spinning faster to cause the aircraft to pitch forwards and backwards.
Pitch
Blue Arrow = Front of aircraft
Green Arrow= More Power
Yellow Arrow= Less Power

10. Roll For the plane to roll two of the propellers spin faster.
Notice which propellers are spinning faster to cause the aircraft to roll left and right.
Roll
Blue Arrow = Front of aircraft
Green Arrow= More Power
Yellow Arrow= Less Power

11. Tynker App Open the Tynker App Click on the Tynker logo to the right
Follow along with the instructions on how to get programming with the Rolling Spider
Hint: Our drone using Bluetooth pairing
Tynker App

12. Your mission, should you choose to accept it…
Once you’ve gotten the hang of coding the Rolling Spider, select one of the missions from below.
Mission 1: Place the Rolling Spider under a desk. Code the drone to take off and fly around the desk landing where it took off from.
Mission 2: Place the Rolling Spider on a desk. Have the drone take off and land at, at least two other tables.
Mission 3: With the Rolling Spider on a desk have the drone take off and fly up and over one of the light bars in the classroom and land safely on either the same desk or a different desk.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it…

13. Questions Define: Yaw, Pitch, Roll, and Altitude in your own words
What are at least five different guidelines the FAA has for drones?
What is the most difficult part about coding the Rolling Spider? How did you overcome this challenge?
What positive advice would you give for the next group to do this Engagement?
Questions