TRansmitter
FUGA MACHINA
What Makes it Unique?
The drone has the ability to be folded; just like the DJI’s Mavic Air. The drone has a battery life of over 20 mins, giving the user plenty of time to record the most amazing videos and photos. The drone can turn each propeller individually.
Why have independent motors?
The drone can operate in wind speeds of up to 25km/h. The propellers sit on an independent axis that can pivot an entire 180°. The propeller and its motor can turn downwards to create a counter rotation. This is mandatory when making a drone that can recover from a sudden misalignment. This was one of the toughest challenges that I faced when designing the drone.
Drones such as “The Inspire 2” can return to a stable position when faced with minor changes in wind speed but not when faced with 'free-fall'.
This is a feature that DJI is currently working on and may be included in the Inspire 4.
The project would require a custom flight system to be programmed . The flight system will be used to alter the angle and speeds of the motors during take off, unexpected free fall and landing. The first part of the project involved researching existing open sourced flight software and examining how the program was structured. Many of the available programs required an integrated RTOS system. An RTOS system is used to prioritise instructions at real time. This gives the system the ability to react in reasonable time to an event.
Where Every Detail Counts
Assembly
Ventilation
Assembly
The mechanism involved a series of interlinking joints. These joints made it possible for the user to be able to quickly release the drone from its lock position. This made the design more portable and modular, making repairs easier. Joints usually mean weakness in mechanics but in the case of this drone it helps to distribute the mass the motors to the centre of the drone. This will be especially important when maximising its stability. The drone has an acceleration of nearly 4.775 m/s2. This vertical acceleration cases a down force which the FUGA is able to distribute accordingly.
GPS
Ventilation
Assembly
In order to get accurate readings the GPS needed to be aligned in the centre of the drone. The guide, shown above in green, enabled me to perfectly align the chip. During the first test prints the chip did not fit inside the guide as it expands with heat. A copper plate needed to be placed under the chip for heat dissipation. A further heatsink was added to the top of the GPS.
A GPS is used to map the latitude and altitude of the drone with respect to the transmitter/controller. This will be useful when your drone disappears out of sight.
Ventilation
Ventilation
The Cable Guides
Cooling and heat management become one of the major problems when designing a drone of this magnitude. The motors, flight controller, battery and GPS all produce all kinds of plastic melting heat! Originally the drone was cooled by a liquid which was pumped through its veins. This however, compromised its weight distribution and performance. My next attempt was to use a series of heatsinks and fans. The fans I used were form NOCTUA and were the lightest fans I could get hold of. The drones performance was better but with a drawback of less flight time.
The Cable Guides
Changing the Offsets
The Cable Guides
When designing a something that is going to be flying in the air at high speeds it is imperative to minimised surfaces that may result in additional air friction. The wiring for the motors needed to be level to the surface of the drone arms in order to fulfil this requirement.
Changing the Offsets
Changing the Offsets
Changing the Offsets
The GPS sits at a distance x form the bottom of the drone. This distance needs to be subtracted from its stating point o. Once the drone has moved this distance x, the controller will update its status form "Take Off" to "In Flight". This is ensure that the correct altitude is measured.
Error Messages
Changing the Offsets
Changing the Offsets
When the battery is running low a buzzer will sound letting the user know "its time to land". This feature is standard amounts drones and I thought I would take this a step further. A temperature sensor and ammeter will be fitted in order to monitor the battery's heat and the amount of current that the motors are drawing. This will be displayed on the controllers LCD.
Transmission Housing
