MN Space Grant 2014 2015Community College Quadcopter Competition

Preliminary Design Review

ICC Quadcopters (Team Name?)

Written by: Matt Bozicevich, Bridger Hopkins, Samantha Henderson, Kyle Williams, Tiffany Fideldy, Daevon AbramsAdvisor: Mason HansenInstitution: Itasca Community CollegeReport Date: (?)

Table of Contents1.0 Introduction.32.0 Elev-8 Build/Fly Progress...43.0 Progress and Plans for Competition Challenges.44.0 Plans for Competition and Flight Day Operations..65.0Organizational Chart(Missing?)..?6.0Budget and Parts List..67.0Schedule..78.0Appendices..8

1.0 Introduction

This is the MN Space Grant Quadcopter Competition project done by Itasca Community College. The team is working to build a quadcopter to compete in a regional competition for community colleges that is put on by the University of Minnesota with funding through NASA in hope to create lasting interest in STEM fields. The competition is designed to incorporate 3D modeling, design, programming, data processing, laser cutting, 3D printing, along with other various aspects of STEM. The goal of the competition is to begin with a quad-rotor platform and make modifications and additions to it so that the platform can complete a number of competition tasks that explore and record an unknown environment.

Pictured Above: Carlee KlenotichTiffany FideldySamantha HendersonMatt BozicevichKyle WilliamsDaevon AbramBridger HopkinsMason Hansen

We have broken into multiple sub-teams within the project. Each team is responsible for individual sub-team meets that pertain to the teams area of work. Each sub-team has at least two members so that collaboration can take place for each component of the quadcopter project. The sub-teams are as follows:

1.1 Rotor Protection Carlee KlenotichBridger HopkinsMatt BozicevichTiffany Fideldy

1.2 Camera MountTiffany FideldyMatt BozicevichDaevon Abrams

1.3 ReportBridger HopkinsSamantha Henderson

1.4 Interface and ControlsKyle WilliamsSamantha HendersonBridger Hopkins

1.5 ProcurementKyle WilliamsCarlee Klenotich

1.6 BudgetTiffany FideldyMason Hansen

2.0 Elev8 V2 Build/Fly Progress

The ICC quadcopter has been working together to get ready for the spring competition. As a start the group has gotten the Elev-8 built and put together. One of the motors went out so more are in mail and on the way, waiting to be replaced. Once the parts needed arrive in the mail, the team will be able to finish the elev-8 and begin the flying process.

Meanwhile, a couple of the members have been putting together some possible rotor designs through solid works. We have also disassembled the rotor protection from the parrot as an option for a rotor design. The team has been deciding on what type of camera and camera mount to use for the Elev-8 V2. A sample model was made to show how we could rotate the camera around. Also, the Elev-8 V2 has arrived and we have started construction. As of now, we have successfully soldered all of the connection with assembly beginning.

3.0 Progress and Plans for Competition Challenges

The Itasca Quad-Copter Team began building our first quadcopter kit, the Elev-8, at the end of September, 2014. We have built the frame, finishing up soldering, and are currently programming and calibrating the quadcopter for flight. Constantly improving and innovating design developments.

3.1 Promotional VideoThe promotional video will consist of the building of the quadcopters depicted with a short time lapse of the progress over the course of the year, and mainly show case our innovative designs by showing the quadcopter in action. For this task we have dedicated one member of our team to help record video and the progression of our work. As the quads get more and more flight time, we expect to accumulate exponentially more video footage. Letting the video footage build up as we push ahead on our designs, we plan to focus on compiling our video towards the end of our competition. As the time approaches, the work load and skillset will help the team decide who will become the leader of the video editing.

3.2 Rotor ProtectionUnanimously, we see the importance for rotor protection, and in turn have made it our first priority. With the help of the entire team, we have brainstormed a list of attributes that the protection must meet. We are focusing on making sure our design will be excessively durable, light weight as possible, airstream to avoid posing new challenges, and selfishly attractive.

After discussing the methods of rotor protection we should use, we decided to use high density foam as internal support with a carbon fiber shell. The foam would provide the shell its support as it hardens and the shell would provide a lightweight, durable protective shield for the rotors.

3.3 Flight TrainingThis was a priority from day one, and thankfully an appealing task. During our first weeks as a team, we added structure to our agenda assuring the most efficient use of our time. One of those building blocks was designating pilot practice time. Every couple weeks, we divvy out the two mini quads we have to be practiced with, which may be the most fun and challenging task so far. The skill progression has shown to be exponential, but we also recognize the important difference between the smaller drones and our Elev-8. Because of this we will soon have to implement a similar practice regiment to hone our individual skills on the full size quad.

To complement our valiant pilots, we will aid them with the cutting edge electronics. Keeping the static weight to a minimum we are researching components and flight controllers. The flight controller must be concise, giving our quad maximum stability, user friendly flight interface, accurate data points, and a seamless failsafe to assure personal and collateral safety. To obtain these goals we plan to implement live stream video for piloting along with height and range sensors for leveling and stability to not only control the quadcopter, but also to keep a stable and level camera orientation. GPS will open the door to autonomous flight (return home failsafe), altitude detection, corresponding coordinate system for image tagging, and a range of data collection tools.

3.4 Camera MountThe design for the camera is still early in the development stage. We are making final decisions on our live stream video hardware, and once we have the parts for reference we will start construction on the camera mount. With that being said, we do not plan to reinvent the wheel but rather improve upon it. The initial designs plan to innovate the factory camera gimbal to meet our requirements listed in the rotor protection section. The camera gimbal design will also evolve to become multifunctional, using the unique capabilities to house other creative features.

3.5 Close up Imagining ChallengeWith this challenge we identified some of the limiting factors to try and overcome them. The quality of the picture will depend upon the distance and angle to the target, visibility of the target, quality of the camera, the distortion associated with vibration, and stability of the quad platform. The camera will definitely be multifunctional, used for piloting, mapping with GPS tags, and the imaging challenge. The camera will ideally incorporate IR illumination, and interchangeable lenses. The camera gimbal is meant to handle most of the stabilization and vibration reduction, but is also key in the ability to target vertical and horizontal images.

4.0 Plans for Competition and Flight Day OperationsEquipment needing to be switched out during the exploration may be the camera(s). We were talking about taking a camera being able to look straight up and behind the quadcopter. Also we will have a camera in the front and give it the ability to look up and down in order to determine the scale of the map. The scale can be found in a corner of the map and will tell you the ratio of the two units of measure. Multiply the number of inches on the map times the scale to determine the true distance. The students with the most flight experience will be the ones who fly majority of the time at the competition although all the students have flight experience.

6.0 Budget and Parts ListEach quadcopter group was given $3,000 as a budget to be spent on parts for the quadcopter. Please see Table 6.1 in the appendices for a detailed summary of cost estimates thus far. The costs of the items in Table 6.1 does not include the cost of shipping. Currently this list is of all the parts that have been purchased using the allotted $3,000 budget. The budget will continue to go towards the purchasing of electronic components as well as materials for the manufacturing of parts for the quadcopter.

7.0 Schedule

8.0 Appendices

Table 6.1 Current parts and cost of each partPartVendorQuantityCost Per ItemTotal Cost

Solder Tip Cleaning Wire and Holder

Amazon1$9.47$9.47

Solder Spool Holder with Weighted Base

Amazon2$13.50$27.00

Analog Soldering Station

Amazon3$93.56$280.68

Parrot Drone Charger

Amazon2$21.50$43.00

Helping Hands with Magnifying Glass

Amazon1$4.52$4.52

11.1V LIPO Battery

Amazon1$29.99$29.99

Balancing Charger

Amazon1$45.99$45.99

Switch Power Supply for Balancing Charger

Amazon1$14.99$14.99

Hook up Wire Kit

Amazon1$20.95$20.95

Alligator Test Lead Set

Amazon1$11.06$11.06

Copper Magnet Wire - 2oz

Amazon2$5.97$11.94

Copper Magnet Wire - 4oz

Amazon1$7.20$7.20

RC Eye One Propeller Set

Amazon1$7.99$7.99

HW30A ESC Brushless Mtr Speed Controller

BlueSkyRC.com1$11.99$11.99

Elev-8 V2

Parallax1$499.00$499.00

Elev-8 Crash Pack

Parallax1$39.99$39.99

HW30A ESC - Programmed

Parallax2$13.99$27.98

KA20-20L 1050 Kv Brushless Mtr

Parallax1$19.99$19.99

Elev-8 11.1V 3.3 LiPo Battery

Parallax1$29.99$29.99

Total$1143.72

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