CHAPTER – 1

INTRODUCTION

In aviation and in space, a drone refers to an unpiloted aircraft or spacecraft.

Another term for it is an "unmanned aerial vehicle," or UAV. On Earth, drones
are often used for military purposes because they don't put a pilot's life at risk in
combat zones. In addition, drones don't require rest, enabling them to fly as long
as there is fuel in the craft and there are no mechanical difficulties.

Technically speaking, spaceborne drones could include cargo spacecraft,

satellites and machines that leave Earth, although they aren't usually referred to
as such. Perhaps the best example of a drone in space is the U.S. military's
mysterious X-37B spacecraft, which has made multiple flights into orbit for
hundreds of days at a time. Its mission is highly classified, leading to
speculation about what it is doing.

Types of Drone

Types of Drones Introduction

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the different types of drones
that are currently in use, some of their technical specifications, and applications.
Drone technology is rapidly evolving, but the main aspects of propulsion,
autonomy, and size will remain important even in the next generation of drones.

The main classes of drones include multirotor, fixed wing, single rotor and
hybrid designs. The type of technology used to keep the drone flying determines
the type of drone. This is also the main contributor to how the drone looks.

1
Multirotor

Multirotor drones are the most popular types of drones that are used by
hobbyists and professionals. Common applications of multirotors are varied, but
include aerial photography, video surveillance and surveying to name a few.

If you are looking to get a small camera in the air for a relatively short period of
time, then a multirotor is the way to go. They give you much more control over
positioning and framing the camera to get you that perfect aerial photo shot.

The financial barrier to entry in the multirotor market is low thanks to the
advancement of cell phone technology that has allowed the price of drone
components to become ignorantly smaller and cheaper. Out of the four types of
drones that are available, multirotors are the easiest to manufacture, and the
most economical to fly.

Multirotors can be further classified based on the number of rotors on the aerial
platform. Tricopters have 3 rotors, quadcopters have 4 rotors, hexacopters have
6 rotors and octocopters have 8 rotors. Quadcopters are the most popular and
widely used.

2
Multirotors do have their downsides. The major constraint is the limited flying
time, reduced endurance, and speed. They are not suited for long distance
surveying applications, mapping, or inspection. The main issue here is that most
of the energy, usually from a battery source, is used to maintain the drone in a
stable flying position. Currently multi rotors are only capable of maximum
flying times of 20 to 30 minutes with a minimal payload.

Fixed Wing

Fixed wing drones are one of the types of drones that use the same principle that
airplanes use to generate lift using a wing instead of vertical thrust generating
rotors. The vertical lift is generated as a consequence of the forward motion of
the wing through the air, making this a more efficient way of generating vertical
lift.

Fixed wing drones are able to traverse long distances, map wider areas, and stay
within close proximity over points of interest. Along with the greater thrust
generating efficiency, fixed wingdrones are able to use gasoline powered
engines. Due to the energy density of this type of fuel, gas powered drones are
able to stay in the air for over 15 hours.

3
The main drawback of fixed wing aircraft is their inability to loiter over one
point of interest, which rules them out for taking aerial photos and videos.
Launching and landing fixed wing drones can also be problematic. To get them
in the air, you need a runway or a catapult. To recover the drone, you will need
a runway, parachute, or net to recover them safely. Only very small drones are
suitable for launching by hand, or belly landing in an open field.

Fixed wing drones are costlier to fly, and more difficult to learn how to
fly. Multi rotors have become widespread because they are easier
to acquire, and easier to learn how to fly. This is not the case for fixed
wing drones. You will need to have a basic understanding of flight dynamics to
take off, fly to the designated waypoints, and then land safely.

With a fixed wing, the image generation is not a simple task as pointing and
shooting an image with the camera. You will have acquired hundreds of
thousands of images during the flight that need to be stitched together to
generate the final tiled image.

Single Rotor Helicopter

A multi rotor uses a number of rotors to generate vertical, but a single rotor uses
just one, along with a tail rotor to control the heading. Helicopters are very
common in manned aviation, but are rarely used in the drone community.

Single rotor helicopter drones generate thrust more efficiently over multi-
rotors, and can be powered by a gasoline engine for longer flight times. A larger
rotor spinning slowly generates thrust more efficiently. This is why long
endurance quadcopters have a large propeller diameter. A single rotor helicopter
with long blades is more like a rotating wing than a propeller. This results in the
greater thrust generating efficiency.

4
If the application requires hovering a large payload, such as a LIDAR scanner,
or you need a combination of long endurance with forward flight, then a single
rotor helicopter drone is perfect.

There is the drawback of the increased complexity, cost, vibration, and danger
of large spinning blades. Extra care needs to be taken to prevent any injury
caused by the spinning rotor.

With regards to difficulty of flying, a single rotor helicopter is somewhere

between a multi-rotor and a fixed wing aircraft. Hovering a helicopter drone
over a given spot is relatively simple, and the forward flight skills can be
learned as you go. But helicopter drones are not as stable while flying, and
requires good skills to keep it in the air. They also require more mechanical
maintenance due to their increased complexity.

Fixed Wing Hybrids

A new category of hybrid drones that can take off and land vertically are being
developed. These merge the benefits of fixed wing UAVs with the ability to
hover.

Some of these hybrid drone concepts are essentially fixed wingdesigns with a
vertical lift motor. Other designs are tail sitting aircraft that point vertical for
takeoff before pitching over to fly horizontally. Further designs feature the rotor
or the entire wing with propellers can point upwards for takeoff, and
horizontally for forward flight.

Some of these design configurations were tried in the 1950s and 1960s for
manned aircraft, but were deemed too complex and difficult to fly. Many of the
test flight ended in disastrous results. The advancement of modern
flight computers, and advanced sensors, the task of flying these types of drones
can be taken on by the computer.

5
Currently, there are only a handful of hybrid fixed wings available on the
market. However, you can expect to see more of these types of designs as the
technology gets advanced. One example of this type of design, is Amazon’s
Prime Air delivery drone.

Level of Autonomy

Since drones do not carry a pilot on the aerial platform, they need to have a
certain level of autonomy. There is a distinction to be made between an
automatic and an autonomous system. An automatic system is fully pre-
programmed that can execute the programmed task on its own. Automation also
includes additional aspects such as automatic flight stabilization.

Autonomous systems can deal with unexpected situations by using

preprogrammed rules to decide up a course of action. Automatic systems do not
have this freedom of choice.

Drone Energy Source

The design of the drones described previously are dependent upon the energy
source that is to be used. The fuel sources currently available for drones are
traditional airplane fuel, battery cells, and fuel cells. Airplane fuel, such as
kerosene, is mainly used for large fixed wing drones. The military Predator
drone is one such example of these types of drones. The US army used
these drones, and equips them with different sensors, and ammunition.

Lithium polymer batteries are usually used on smaller multirotor drones. These
drones have a shorter range, and smaller operating time than fixed wing drones.
Recreational use is a common application for these drones, making it practical
to use rechargeable batteries. The Phantom 4 and Hubsan X4 are an example of
these types of drones.

6
A fuel cell works on the principal of converting the chemical energy of a fuel
directly into electrical energy. Fuel cells are highly efficient and
environmentally friendly. Fuel cells are rarely used in drones due to their
high weight, but can be equipped in fixed wingdrones. Longer flying times on
the order of multiple hours can be realized by using fuel cells.

The Future of Drones

Drone technology is constantly evolving in the areas of miniaturization,

autonomy, and swarms. Miniaturization is the most incremental developments
of these three areas. Each new generation of drones is a bit smaller, lighter, and
cheaper than the previous generation. For example, the development of new
materials, along with more efficient and lighter batteries allow for better trade-
offs between the drone’s flying range, maximum altitude, and payload capacity.
The smallest drone currently available is the size of a credit card. However, in a
few years we can expect to see drones the size of insects.

The falling prices and size of drones will help in making them more readily
available to everyone. Currently it is rare to see a drone flying, but within a
few years there will be plenty of drones available in the public market. This
prediction is based on the rate at which drones are being manufactured and sold.
Quadcopters are highly popular Christmas and birthday presents for teenagers.
They are also favored by photographers, and sports enthusiasts. Also, there is an
increasing number of companies that make drone services available.

Furthering drone autonomy is making many applications more plausible. The

first generation of drones were no more than remote controlled aircraft, but now
there are smart autonomous modes that reduce the amount of interaction and
control needed by the human pilot. Professional grade drones now feature the
ability to pre-program flights, and software flight stabilization. In the future, we

7
will see more drones that feature GPS navigation, collision avoidance
capabilities, and being able to adapt to changing weather conditions.

Drones that can act in a cooperative manner can exhibit swarm behavior. The
development of swarms can enhance the range, flight duration, and payload
capacity for different applications. For example, if one drone is experiencing a
low battery level, it can assign its task to another drone. This could extend the
flight range beyond the range of the first drone. Heavier payloads could be
carried by multiple drones, which would allow exceeding the payload capacity
of one drone.

Currently multi-rotors are getting most of the attention in the drone community.
However, if you have a niche application, then you may want to consider using
a fixed wing, or even a single rotor drone to tackle the job. Hopefully this article
has given you a better idea of the different types of drones currently available to
you.

8
 CHAPTER – 2

QUADCOPTER DRONE

Introduction

A quadcopter, also called a quadrotor helicopter or quadrotor,[1] is

a multirotorhelicopter that is lifted and propelled by four rotors.
Quadcopters are classified as rotorcraft, as opposed to fixed-wing
aircraft, because their lift is generated by a set of rotors (vertically
oriented propellers).

Quadcopters generally use two pairs of identical fixed pitched

propellers; two clockwise (CW) and two counterclockwise (CCW).
These use independent variation of the speed of each rotor to achieve
control. By changing the speed of each rotor it is possible to
specifically generate a desired total thrust; to locate for the centre of

9
thrustboth laterally and longitudinally; and to create a desired
total torque, or turning force.

Quadcopters differ from conventional helicopters, which use rotors

that are able to vary the pitch of their blades dynamically as they
move around the rotor hub. In the early days of flight, quadcopters
(then referred to either as 'quadrotors' or simply as 'helicopters') were
seen as possible solutions to some of the persistent problems in
vertical flight. Torque-induced control issues (as well as efficiency
issues originating from the tail rotor, which generates no useful lift)
can be eliminated by counter-rotation, and the relatively short blades
are much easier to construct. A number of manned designs appeared
in the 1920s and 1930s. These vehicles were among the first
successful heavier-than-air vertical take off and landing
(VTOL) vehicles.[3]However, early prototypes suffered from poor
performance, and latter prototypes required too much pilot work load,
due to poor stability augmentation[4] and limited control authority.

In the late 2000s, advances in electronics allowed the production of

cheap lightweight flight controllers, accelerometers (IMU), global
positioning system and cameras. This resulted in the quadcopter
configuration becoming popular for small unmanned aerial vehicles.
With their small size and maneuverability, these quadcopters can be
flown indoors as well as outdoors.

At a small size, quadcopters are cheaper and more durable than

conventional helicopters due to their mechanical simplicity.[6]Their

10
smaller blades are also advantageous because they possess less kinetic
energy, reducing their ability to cause damage. For small-scale
quadcopters, this makes the vehicles safer for close interaction. It is
also possible to fit quadcopters with guards that enclose the rotors,
further reducing the potential for damage. However, as size increases,
fixed propeller quadcopters develop disadvantages relative to
conventional helicopters. Increasing blade size increases their
momentum. This means that changes in blade speed take longer,
which negatively impacts control. Helicopters do not experience this
problem as increasing the size of the rotor disk does not significantly
impact the ability to control blade pitch.

Flight dynamics

Each rotor produces both a thrust and torque about its center of
rotation, as well as a drag force opposite to the vehicle's direction of
flight. If all rotors are spinning at the same angular velocity, with
rotors one and three rotating clockwise and rotors two and four
counterclockwise, the net aerodynamic torque, and hence the angular
acceleration about the yaw axis, is exactly zero, which means there is
no need for a tail rotor as on conventional helicopters. Yaw is induced
by mismatching the balance in aerodynamic torques (i.e., by
offsetting the cumulative thrust commands between the counter-
rotating blade pairs).

11
Applications

Research platform

Quadcopters are a useful tool for university researchers to test and

evaluate new ideas in a number of different fields, including flight
control theory, navigation, real time systems, and robotics. In recent
years many universities have shown quadcopters performing
increasingly complex aerial manoeuvres. Swarms of quadcopters can
hover in mid-air, fly in formations, and autonomously perform
complex flying routines such as flips, darting through hulahoops and
organising themselves to fly through windows as a group.

There are numerous advantages to using quadcopters as versatile test

platforms. They are relatively cheap, available in a variety of sizes
and their simple mechanical design means that they can be built and
maintained by amateurs. Due to the multi-disciplinary nature of
operating a quadcopter, academics from a number of fields need to
work together in order to make significant improvements to the way
quadcopters perform. Quadcopter projects are typically collaborations
between computer science, electrical engineering and mechanical
engineering specialists.

Military and law enforcement

Quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicles are used for surveillance and

reconnaissance by military and law enforcement agencies, as well as
search and rescue missions in urban environments. One such example

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is the Aeryon Scout, created by Canadian company Aeryon
Labs,[45] which is a small UAV that can quietly hover in place and use
a camera to observe people and objects on the ground. The company
claims that the quadrotor played a key role in a drug raid in Central
America by providing visual surveillance of a drug
trafficker's compound deep in the jungle (Aeryon has declined to
name the exact country and provide other specific details).

After a recreational quadcopter (or "drone") crashed on the White

House lawn early in the morning of January 26, 2015, the Secret
Service began a series of test flights of such equipment in order to
fashion a security protocol against hostile quadcopters.

During the Battle of Mosul it was reported that commercially

available quadcopters and drones were being used by Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as surveillance and weapons delivery
platforms using improvised cradles to drop grenades and other
explosives.[49] The ISIL drone facility became a target of Royal Air
Force strike aircraft.

Photography

2016 model DJI Phantom 4 quadcopter with a high definition 4k

stabilized video and still camera, GPS stabilization and automatic
obstacle avoidance

The largest use of quadcopters in the USA has been in the field of
aerial imagery. Quadcopter UAVs are suitable for this job because of

13
their autonomous nature and huge cost savings. Drones have also
been used for light-paintingphotography.

Journalism

In 2014 The Guardian reported that major media outlets have started
to put serious effort into exploring the use of drones for reporting and
verifying news on events that include floods, protests and wars.[54]

Some media outlets and newspapers are using drones to capture

photography of celebrities.

14
 CHAPTER – 3

ADRUINO

What is Arduino?

Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware

and software. Arduino boards are able to read inputs - light on a sensor, a finger
on a button, or a Twitter message - and turn it into an output - activating a
motor, turning on an LED, publishing something online. You can tell your
board what to do by sending a set of instructions to the microcontroller on the
board. To do so you use the Arduino programming language (based on Wiring),
and the Arduino Software (IDE), based on Processing.

Over the years Arduino has been the brain of thousands of projects, from
everyday objects to complex scientific instruments. A worldwide community of
makers - students, hobbyists, artists, programmers, and professionals - has
gathered around this open-source platform, their contributions have added up to
an incredible amount of accessible knowledge that can be of great help to
novices and experts alike.

Arduino was born at the Ivrea Interaction Design Institute as an easy tool for
fast prototyping, aimed at students without a background in electronics and
programming. As soon as it reached a wider community, the Arduino board
started changing to adapt to new needs and challenges, differentiating its offer
from simple 8-bit boards to products for IoT applications, wearable, 3D
printing, and embedded environments. All Arduino boards are completely open-
source, empowering users to build them independently and eventually adapt
them to their particular needs. The software, too, is open-source, and it is
growing through the contributions of users worldwide.

15
Thanks to its simple and accessible user experience, Arduino has been used in
thousands of different projects and applications. The Arduino software is easy-
to-use for beginners, yet flexible enough for advanced users. It runs on Mac,
Windows, and Linux. Teachers and students use it to build low cost scientific
instruments, to prove chemistry and physics principles, or to get started with
programming and robotics. Designers and architects build interactive
prototypes, musicians and artists use it for installations and to experiment with
new musical instruments. Makers, of course, use it to build many of the projects
exhibited at the Maker Faire, for example. Arduino is a key tool to learn new
things. Anyone - children, hobbyists, artists, programmers - can start tinkering
just following the step by step instructions of a kit, or sharing ideas online with
other members of the Arduino community.

There are many other microcontrollers and microcontroller platforms available

for physical computing. Parallax Basic Stamp, Netmedia's BX-24, Phidgets,
MIT's Handyboard, and many others offer similar functionality. All of these
tools take the messy details of microcontroller programming and wrap it up in
an easy-to-use package. Arduino also simplifies the process of working with
microcontrollers, but it offers some advantage for teachers, students, and
interested amateurs over other systems:

 Inexpensive - Arduino boards are relatively inexpensive compared to

other microcontroller platforms. The least expensive version of the
Arduino module can be assembled by hand, and even the pre-assembled
Arduino modules cost less than $50

 Cross-platform - The Arduino Software (IDE) runs on Windows,

Macintosh OSX, and Linux operating systems. Most microcontroller
systems are limited to Windows.

16
  Simple, clear programming environment - The Arduino Software (IDE) is
easy-to-use for beginners, yet flexible enough for advanced users to take
advantage of as well. For teachers, it's conveniently based on the
Processing programming environment, so students learning to program in
that environment will be familiar with how the Arduino IDE works.

 Open source and extensible software - The Arduino software is published

as open source tools, available for extension by experienced
programmers. The language can be expanded through C++ libraries, and
people wanting to understand the technical details can make the leap from
Arduino to the AVR C programming language on which it's based.
Similarly, you can add AVR-C code directly into your Arduino programs
if you want to.

 Open source and extensible hardware - The plans of the Arduino boards
are published under a Creative Commons license, so experienced circuit
designers can make their own version of the module, extending it and
improving it. Even relatively inexperienced users can build
the breadboard version of the module in order to understand how it works
and save money.

See the getting started guide. If you are looking for inspiration you can find a
great variety of Tutorials on Arduino Project Hub.

The text of the Arduino getting started guide is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Code samples in the guide are
released into the public domain.

17
Different Types Of Arduino Boards

The list of Arduino boards includes the following such as

 Arduino Uno (R3)

 LilyPad Arduino
 Red Board
 Arduino Mega (R3)
 Arduino Leonardo

Arduino Uno (R3)

The Uno is a huge option for your initial Arduino. It consists of 14-digital I/O
pins, where 6-pins can be used as PWM(pulse width modulation outputs), 6-
analog inputs, a reset button, a power jack, a USB connection and more. It
includes everything required to hold up the microcontroller; simply attach it to a
PC with the help of a USB cable and give the supply to get started with a AC-
to-DC adapter or battery.

18
LilyPad Arduino Board

The Lily Pad Arduino board is a wearable e-textile technology expanded by

Leah “ Buechley”and considerately designed by “Leah and SparkFun”. Each
board was imaginatively designed with huge connecting pads & a smooth back
to let them to be sewn into clothing using conductive thread. This Arduino also
comprises of I/O, power, and also sensor boards which are built especially for e-
textiles. These are even washable!

RedBoard Arduino Board

The RedBoard aAduino board can be programmed using a Mini-B USB cable
using the Arduino IDE. It will work on Windows 8 without having to modify
your security settings.It is more constant due to the USB or FTDI chip we used
and also it is entirely flat on the back. Creating it is very simple to utilize in the
project design. Just plug the board, select the menu option to choose an Arduino
UNO and you are ready to upload the program. You can control the RedBoard
over USB cable using the barrel jack.

RedBoard Arduino Board

The Arduino Mega is similar to the UNO’s big brother. It includes lots of digital
I/O pins (from that, 14-pins can be used as PWM o/ps), 6-analog inputs, a reset
button, a power jack, a USB connection and a reset button. It includes
everything required to hold up the microcontroller; simply attach it to a PC with
the help of a USB cable and give the supply to get started with a AC-to-DC
adapter or battery.The huge number of pins make this Arduino board very
helpful for designing the projects that need a bunch of digital i/ps or o/ps like
lots buttons.

19
Arduino Mega (R3) Board

The first development board of an Arduino is the Leonardo board. This board
uses one microcontroller along with the USB. That means, it can be very simple
and cheap also. Because this board handles USB directly, program libraries are
obtainable which let the Arduino board to follow a keyboard of the computer,
mouse, etc.

20
Arduino Leonardo Board

Additionally, Arduino shields are pre built circuit boards used to connect to a
number of Arduino boards. These shields fit on the top of the Arduino
compatible boards to provide an additional capabilities like connecting to the
internet, motor controlling, providing wireless communication, LCD screen
controlling, etc..The different types of an Arduino shields are

Working

The most important advantage with Arduino is the programs can be directly
loaded to the device without requiring any hardware programmer to burn the
program. This is done because of the presence of the 0.5KB of Bootloader
which allows the program to be burned into the circuit. All we have to do is to
download the Arduino software and writing the code.

21
Programming ArduinoThe Arduino tool window consists of the toolbar with the
buttons like verify, upload, new, open, save, serial monitor. It also consists of a
text editor to write the code, a message area which displays the feedback like
showing the errors, the text console which displays the output and a series of
menus like the File, Edit, Tools menu.

5 Steps to program an Arduino

Programs written in Arduino are known as sketches. A basic sketch consists of

3 parts

1. Declaration of Variables

2. Initialization: It is written in the setup () function.

3. Control code: It is written in the loop () function.

The sketch is saved with .ino extension. Any operations like verifying, opening
a sketch, saving a sketch can be done using the buttons on the toolbar or using
the tool menu.

The sketch should be stored in the sketchbook directory.

Chose the proper board from the tools menu and the serial port numbers.

22
Click on the upload button or chose upload from the tools menu. Thus the code
is uploaded by the bootloader onto the microcontroller.

Few of basic Adruino functions are:

 digitalRead(pin): Reads the digital value at the given pin.

 digitalWrite(pin, value): Writes the digital value to the given pin.
 pinMode(pin, mode): Sets the pin to input or output mode.
 analogRead(pin): Reads and returns the value.
 analogWrite(pin, value): Writes the value to that pin.
 serial.begin(baud rate): Sets the beginning of serial communication by
setting the bit rate.

How to Design your own Arduino?

We can also design our own Arduino by following the schematic given by the
Arduino vendor and also available at the websites. All we need are the
following components- A breadboard, a led, a power jack, a IC socket, a
microcontroller, few resistors, 2 regulators, 2 capacitors.

 The IC socket and the power jack are mounted on the board.
 Add the 5v and 3.3v regulator circuits using the combinations of
regulators and capacitors.
 Add proper power connections to the microcontroller pins.
 Connect the reset pin of the IC socket to a 10K resistor.
 Connect the crystal oscillators to pins 9 and 10
 Connect the led to the appropriate pin.
 Mount the female headers onto the board and connect them to the
respective pins on the chip.
 Mount the row of 6 male headers, which can be used as an alternative to
upload programs.

23
Upload the program on the Microcontroller of the readymade Adruino and then
pry it off and place back on the user kit.

It comes with an open source hardware feature which enables users to develop
their own kit using already available one as a reference source. The Arduino
software is compatible with all types of operating systems like Windows, Linux,
and Macintosh etc. It also comes with open source software feature which
enables experienced software developers to use the Arduino code to merge with
the existing programming language libraries and can be extended and modified.
It is easy to use for beginners. We can develop an Arduino based project which
can be completely stand alone or projects which involve direct communication
with the software loaded in the computer. It comes with an easy provision of
connecting with the CPU of the computer using serial communication over USB
as it contains built in power and reset circuitry. So this is some basic idea
regarding an Arduino. You can use it for many types of applications. For
instance in applications involving controlling some actuators like motors,
generators, based on the input from sensors.

24
 CHAPTER – 4

COMPONENTS

ESC

The term ESC stands for an“electronic speed control is an electronic circuit
used to change the speed of an electric motor, its route and also to perform as a
dynamic brake. These are frequently used on radio controlled models which are
electrically powered, with the change most frequently used for brushless motors
basically providing an electronically produced 3-phase electric power low
voltage source of energy for the motor. An ESC can be a separate unit which
lumps into the throttle receiver control channel or united into the receiver itself,
as is the situation in most toy-grade R/C vehicles. Some R/C producers that
connect exclusive hobbyist electronics in their entry-level vehicles, containers
or aircraft use involved electronics that combine the two on a sole circuit board.

Features of an Electronic Speed Control

As we know that, an ESC controls the speed of the motors spin of an airplane. It
helps the similar purpose as the throttle servo of a glow powered airplane. It is
25
an edge between the radio receiver of an airplane and the power plant. An
electronic speed control will have 3- sets of wires. One wire will plug into the
main battery of an airplane. The second wire will have a typical servo wire that
plugs into the receiver’s throttle channel. And lastly, a third of wire is used for
powering the motor. The main features of an electronic speed control include
battery eliminator circuit, low voltage cutoff, brake, and to.

Components used in ESC

 The components used in ESC mainly include the following

 Solder pads for the 3-BLDC motor phases
 Negative (-) LIPO connections
 Positive (+) LIPO Connection
 Servo signal or input of the PWM signal
 GND reference of PWM Signal
 Solder jumper, for altering the direction of Rotation (CW/CCW)
 Solder jumper, for varying the type of the PWM input signal
 State LED

26
Types of an Electronic Speed Controller

There is two kinds of electronic speed controller based on the specific

requirements, you can acquire the exact one existing in RC Models shops such
as brushed ESC and brushless Electronic Speed Control.

27
Brushed ESC

Brushed ESC is the first electronic speed controller, which has been around for
several years. It is very cheap to use in various RTR electric RC vehicles.

Brushless ESC

Brushless ESC is the modern advancement in technology once it comes to

Electronic Speed Controls. It is also a bit more costly. Connected to a brushless
motor, it carries more power higher performance as compared to the brushed
ones. It can also last a longer period of time.

Electronic Speed Controller Circuit

The term ESC is frequently used as a contraction for ‘electronic speed

controller. The basic function of ESC is to change the amount of power to the
electric motor from the aircraft battery based upon the location of the throttle
stick.In earlier, speed controllers are mainly used in remote control boats and
cars which use a variable resistor with a wiper that was stimulated by a servo
motor.

28
Electronic Speed Controller Circuit

This technique works reasonably at full throttle as the battery is associated

straight to the motor, though at part throttle situations the flow of current
through the resistor producing power to be lost in the form of heat. As a model,
aircraft will use most of its time at the portion of the throttle. This is not a very
practical means of power control.

Current speed controllers differ the power to the motor by fast switching the
power ON and OFF. Here, MOSFET Transistor is used as a switch instead of a
mechanical device, and the amount at which it is switched is about 2000 times a
second. So, the power to the motor is diverse by changing the amount of ON
time, against off time in a specified cycle. Here is the simple ESC circuit with
waveform diagram may help with the description.

When the MOSFET is switched ON, the current rises up as the magnetic field in
the windings of the motor increases. When the MOSFET is switched OFF,
magnetic energy stored in the windings has to be absorbed by the ESC. By
cabling a diode across the motor, we return the energy back into the motor as
current, which rises down as the magnetic field failures.

29
Choosing the Right ESC

The number one significant consideration to keep in mind is to match the

Electronic Speed Control to the sort of motor you used. Be sure to purchase the
correct ESC for the exact motor: brushed ESC is used for the brushed motor,
brushless ESC is used for the brushless motor, never vice versa. Usually, apart
from the labels, you will directly know that it’s a brushed motor if it has 2-
wires. If the motor has three wires, then it is brushless.

For people who are not aware with electronic speed control, most of the models
like RTR RC model are provided with a pre-installed Electronic Speed Control.
Most of these are brushed digital units that carry a decent act in their operations.
If RC car comes with an analog speed control, which needs a servo in order to
work the swing arm, consider receiving a digital one as soon as you can.

It is also fine to get an ESC with an opposite functionality. This way you will
remove all the disturbances and preventions going down from the area of the
driver’s stand to recover your RC car every time it becomes stuck in the track.

Applications of ESC The electronic speed control systems are used in remote
control and vehicle applications.

 Electric cars
 Electric bicycles
 Electric aircraft
 Cars
 Helicopters
 Airplanes
 Boats
 Quadcopters

30
MOTOR

Types of motors used for drones

There are a few types of motors that are use to build drones. But as
the drone needs to be thrust in the air to float, we should use some powerful
motors. The cheap, lightweight, small, and powerful motors used in drones
are Brushless DC motors (BLDC). For small drones, we do not use BLDC
motors, but instead use small DC gear motors.

31
Several types of speed controllers

You cannot control the speed of motors of your drone unless you use speed
controllers. They enable you to control the voltage and current of the motors
and hence control the speed, which is the first priority to move the drone one
place to another, after floating in the air. You need to increase and decrease
the speed of motor(s) to move the drone forward, backward, left, or right.

Flight control board

This is one of the most important things to control the drone from the
ground. There are a number of flight control boards on the market. Some of
them are open source and some of them are not. The following list has the
most famous and top-rated flight controllers:

 KK 2.0

 CC3D

32
 Naze32

 KISS

 ArduPilot

 Vector

 3DR Pixhawk

 DJI Nava M

 LUX flight controller

 DJI A3

In this book, we will use ArduPilot, as it is cheap and it is best for copters. It
also covers our book title. The following picture of some flight controllers.

The ArduPilot is one of the best flight controllers for drones because of the
following reasons:

 It has a free, open source autopilot framework supporting different types

of drones

 It supports hundreds of 3D waypoints

 It allows you to do the autonomous take-off, landing, and camera control

 It has 4 MB onboard data-logging memory

 It has a built-in hardware fail-safe processor

 It has full mission scripting

 It is really simple to set up

The following picture is an ArduPilot:

33
We will discuss more about the ArduPilot later.

How A Quadcopter Works With Propellers And Motors Explained

CENTRAL FLIGHT CONTROLLER

Now the central flight controller also takes information from IMU,
Gyroscope, GPS modules and obstacle detection sensors if on the
quadcopter. It makes computation calculations using programmed flight
parameters and algorithms, then sends this data to the electronic speed
controllers.

In fact, most flight controllers encompass the IMU, GPS, Gyroscope and
many more features to control the quadcopter flight and stability. In many
cases, they have dual IMUs for redundancy and other safety features such as
Return-To-Home.

An example of a central flight controller would be new DJI N3 Flight

Controller. It has so many features and can work with a variety of motors.

34
Electronic Speed Control Circuits (ESCs)

Electronic Speed Control For Quadcopter Motor DirectionEach quadcopter

motor has a circuit called an Electronic Speed Control (ESC). An electronic
speed controller is an electronic circuit with the purpose to vary an electric
motor’s speed, its direction and also braking.

Electronic Speed Controllers are an essential component of modern

quadcopters. They offer high power, high frequency, high resolution 3-
phase AC power to the motors. At the same time these ESCs are really small
and compact.

Quadcopters and drones depend entirely on the variable speed of the motors
driving the propellers. This wide variation and RPM thrust and control in
motor/ propeller speed gives the quadcopter all of the necessary control to
fly.

To understand more on Electronic Speed Controllers, view this terrific video

called “RC Basics – The ESC“.

Quadcopter Motor Propeller Direction

Vertical Lift – Quadcopter Motor Propeller Direction

35
In order for a quadcopter to rise into the air, a force must be created, which
equals or exceeds the force of gravity. This is the basic idea behind aircraft
lift, which comes down to controlling the upward and downward force.

Now, quadcopters use motor design and propeller direction for propulsion to
basically control the force of gravity against the quadcopter.

The spinning of the quadcopter propeller blades push air down. All forces
come in pairs (Newtons Third Law), which means for every action force
there is an equal (in size) and opposite (in direction) reaction force.
Therefore, as the rotor pushes down on the air, the air pushes up on the rotor.
The faster the rotors spin, the greater the lift and vice-versa.

Now, a drone can do three things in the vertical plane: hover, climb, or
descend.

Hover Still – To hover, the net thrust of the four rotors push the drone up and
must be exactly equal to the gravitational force pulling it down.

Climb Ascend – By increasing the thrust (speed) of the four quadcopter

rotors so that the upward force is greater than the weight and pull of gravity.

36
Vertical Descend – Dropping back down requires doing the exact opposite
of the climb. Decrease the rotor thrust (speed) so the net force is downward.

Quadcopter Propeller Direction – Yaw, Pitch, Roll

Before delving into the quadcopter motor and propeller setup, lets explain a
bit about the terminology used when it is flying forwards, backwards,
sideways or rotating while hovering. These are known as Pitch, Roll and
Yaw.

Yaw – This is the rotating or swiveling of the head of the quadcopter either
to right or left. It is the basic movement to spin the quadcopter. On most
drones, it is the achieved by using the left throttle stick either to the left or
right.

Pitch – This is the movement of quadcopter either forward and backward.

Forward Pitch is achieved generally by pushing the throttle stick forward,
which makes the quadcopter tilt and move forward, away from you.
Backward pitch is achieved by moving the throttle stick backwards.

Roll – Most people get confused with Roll and Yaw. Roll is making the
quadcopter fly sideways, either to left or right. Roll is controlled by the right
throttle stick, making it fly either left of right.

Many of the higher tech drones such as the Yuneec Q500 4k quadcopter
allow you to fly it in 2 different ways. You can fly the drone as if you are
the pilot as if you were actually in the quadcopter. You use the control sticks
differently on the roll whether the drone is coming towards you or flying
away from you.

37
BATTERY

Your quadcopter battery is the power source that drives all the systems on
your drone and allows it to fly. Like gas in a car, once you run out of power,
you are not going anywhere. When you first start flying quadcopter, you
have a basic understanding of how a quadcopter battery works. You plug a
few batteries into the provided USB cables, and plug them in to charge.
When the LED lights on the quadcopter start blinking, you know that you
need to land, and swap out the battery. You also have a rough idea of how
long you can fly on one battery charge.

As you gain more experience, and move onto drones in a higher price
bracket, your knowledge of quadcopter batteries and chargers needs to
improve. After all, you have made an investment into a drone with more
features and functionality. It is only fitting that you are more aware of a
quadcopter battery operates.

Lithium Polymer Batteries

Lithium polymer batteries are modern batteries that are commonly used in
consumer electronics such as your smartphone, laptops, and tablets.

Quadcopter Battery Types

38
The two main possible alternatives to LiPo batteries are Nickel Metal
Hydride (NiMH) and Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) batteries. LiPo (lithium
polymer) batteries offer significant advantages over other types of batteries.
The advantages that LiPo batteries offer over NiCd and NiMH batteries are:

 LiPo batteries have higher capacities which allows them to hold more
power

 LiPo batteries have higher discharge rates allowing faster power transfer

 LiPo batteries are lighter and can be made in different shapes and sizes

However, LiPo batteries also have some drawbacks. These include:

 LiPo batteries have a shorter lifespan of about 300 to 400 cycles, as

compared to NiMH and NiCd batteries

 If the battery gets punctured and vents into the air, there is a possibility
that this could result in a fire

 Some extra care needs to be taken when charging, discharging, or storing

LiPo batteries

Quadcopter Battery Voltage and Cell Count

A single LiPo cell has a nominal voltage of 3.7V. To clarify, the nominal
voltage is approximately the average of the full charge of 4.2V/cell, and the
minimum safe charge of 3.0 V/cell. For the mathematically inclined reader,
you will notice that 3.7V/cell is not really the average of those two values,
but this is what the battery industry uses as a nominal value.

Nominal LiPo Battery Voltage = 3.7 V / cell

The total voltage of a battery is determined by the number of cells. To

calculate the total voltage, you take the number of cells in series, and

39
multiply by 3.7V. So a 2S battery pack will have 2 cells in series, so its total
voltage is 2 x 3.7 = 7.4V. A 3S battery has three cells in series, so its voltage
is 11.1V.

The voltage of a quadcopter battery pack will determine how fast your
propellers spin. Brushless motors have a rating designated in units of kV,
which effectively means RPM per volt. So the more voltage you have
available, the higher the maximum RPM of your quadcopter’s propellers.
This can result in more dynamic agility, and faster speeds.

Quadcopter Battery Capacity

The battery capacity represents how much power the battery can hold. You
can think of this as being the size of your fuel tank. The higher the capacity,
the longer you can fly your quadcopter. Battery capacity is measured in units
of milliamp hours mAh. If you have a battery with a capacity of X mAh, and
you drain X mA, then it will take one hour to drain the battery.

Voltage is used to measure the charge of a battery because measuring

battery capacity is difficult. The amount of energy going into the battery
can be measured, but not how much is actually in the battery.

40
Before you even think about getting a larger battery for your quadcopter,
there are some downsides to batteries with higher capacities. As the battery
capacity goes up, so does its physics size, and weight. The extra flying time
that you gain from a larger capacity, may be negated by the extra weight.
This is also assuming the larger battery will fit in the drone battery
compartment.

The higher capacity battery could also damage your quadcopter. There will
be additional heat buildup in the speed control and the motors which could
damage these components.

You may come across a LiPo battery that has the designation of the form
xSyP. The xS section represents the number of cells in a string, as was
previously mentioned. The yP portion of the designation is the number of
parallel strings in the battery. Adding strings in parallel is done to increase
the battery capacity.

TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER

A radio control system is made up of two elements, the transmitter you hold
in your hands and the receiver you put inside your drone. Dramatically
simplifying things here, your drone transmitter will read your stick inputs
and send them through the air to your receiver in near real time. Once the
receiver has this information it passes it on to your drones flight controller
which makes the drone move accordingly. A radio will have four separate
channels for each direction on the sticks along with some extra ones for any
auxiliary switches it may have.

Frequency and channels

Thankfully frequency and channel wise radio controls are a lot smarter than
their FPV counter parts and are much easier to manage. Video transmitters

41
and receivers for example both require setting to the correct channel along
with diligent channel management every time you fly. A Radio Controller
however simply needs to bind or pair with a receiver when it's first setup.

From then on it will always link and hop over various frequencies in the
2.4Ghz band to ensure a solid link with theoretically hundreds of pilots
operating at the same time.

Range technology

The limit of range is normally where the receiver can no longer clearly hear
what the transmitter telling it and typically falls in the 1km range in normal
conditions. Imagine trying to talk to someone across a field The range of
your radio link will be dependent on a few factors:

1. The output power of your transmitter - Many run just below the legal
maximum to be compliant with international standards.

2. The sensitivity of the Receiver - A more sensitive receiver is like having

better hearing, the signal will travel further however it may pickup more
noise in certain conditions

3. The quality of your antennas at both ends - Antennas could be an

entire article on their own but basically a larger antenna will send and
receive a better signal. Often optimising your antenna placement will
make a huge difference to the performance to the system.

Although typical radio systems use the 2.4Ghz band, specialist long range
systems such as the TBS Crossfire can run on much lower frequencies which
are able to travel much further at the same power.

42
 CHAPTER – 5

WORKING

Understanding drone motor and propeller direction, along with design show
us how a quadcopter works. Quadcopters today, are very easy to fly in any
direction. They can also hover in place super smoothly. The engineering and
design is different to an airplane or helicopter for flying. In this post we look
at how a quadcopter flies, the required motor direction, configuration, setup,
propeller design along with quadcopter motor thrust and calculations
required.

There are also some excellent videos and links to very interesting relevant
articles for further reading on how a quadcopter flies.

How A Quadcopter Works

So how does a quadcopter hover or fly in any direction, lift or descend at a

moments touch on the remote controller stick. Drones can also fly
autonomously through programmed waypoint navigation software and fly in

43
any direction going from point to point. So let’s look at the quadcopter
technology, which makes this possible.

It is the propeller direction along with the drone’s motor rotation and speed,
which make it’s flight and maneuverability possible.

The quadcopter’s flight controller sends information to the motors via their
electronic speed control circuits (ESC) information on thrust, RPM,
(Revolutions Per Minute) and direction. The flight controller will also
combine IMU, Gyro and GPS data before signalling to the quadcopter
motors on thrust and rotor speed.

While the drone and quadcopter technology of today is all modern, they still
use the old principles of aircraft flight, gravity, action and reaction pairs.

In the manufacture of quadcopters, propellers and motor design, the 4 forces

which affect all flight (weight, lift, thrust and drag) are also important
considerations.

Mathematics is also used to calculate quadcopter motor thrust while aircraft

aerodynamics is used for propeller design and the movement of air above,
below and around the quadcopter.

Importance Of How A Quadcopter Works And Flies

With a small bit of experience, flying a quadcopter becomes automatic. You

move the sticks on the Remote Controller Ground Station which send the
quadcopter in whichever direction you want it to fly. We don’t need to think
about what the motors or propellers are doing.

Now supposing your quadcopter wasn’t flying correctly. Maybe it is pulling

in one direction or not hovering smoothly. Well, understanding how a

44
quadcopter works and flies will help you locate the issue with a motor or
propeller, especially if a visual inspection does not show a fault.

When you understand quadcopter propeller design and motor thrust, you can
make changes to your quadcopter such as removing the camera and
installing another payload such as a Time-of-Flight or a Lidar sensor.

Flying with a different payload will have an effect on the control, flight and
balance of the drone. A different payload will then require different
quadcopter motor thrust.

If you are building your own or designing quadcopters, then understanding

motor and propeller design is essential information. You need the correct
quadcopter motor configuration, matching propellers, electronic speed
control circuits along with IMU and GPS together with matching the correct
body.

If you want to understand more about all the other components which make
up our normal drone, then read this terrific article on all types of drone
technology.

Ok, let us now look at how a drone flies and specifically the quadcopter
propeller and motor direction and design.

Quadcopter Motor And Propeller Direction Explained

How A Quadcopter Flies

Basically, the movement on the remote control sticks, sends signals to the
central flight controller. This central flight controller sends this information
to the Electronic Speed Controllers (ESCs) of each motor which in turn
directs its motors to increase or decrease speed.

45
Remote Control Stick Movement → Central Flight Controller → Electronic
Speed Control Circuits (ESCs) → Motors and Propellers → Quadcopter
Movement or Hover.

Quadcopter Motor Direction For Yaw

Yaw is the deviation or rotating of the head of the quadcopter either to right
or left. On a drone such as the DJI Mavic Pro or the latest Mavic 2 Pro, the
Yaw action is controlled by the right control stick on the remote controller.
Moving the stick either to the left or right will make the quadcopter swivel
either left or right.

The movement on the remote control ground station sends signals to the
flight controller which in turn sends data for the quadcopter ESC circuits
which control the motor configuration and speed to the motors.

To see how this actually works, take a look at the below quadcopter
propeller configuration diagram. The diagram is of a DJI Phantom 3
quadcopter, viewed from above with the rotors labeled 1 through 4.

How A Quadcopter Works With Motor Propeller Direction

In this above diagram, you can see the quadcopter motor configuration, with
the 2 / 4 motors are rotating counterclockwise (CCW motors) and the 1 / 3
motors are rotating clockwise (CW motors). With the two sets of quadcopter
motors configured to rotate in opposite directions, the total angular
momentum is zero.

Angular momentum is the rotational equivalent of linear momentum and is

calculated by multiplying the angular velocity by the moment of inertia.
What is the moment of inertia? It is similar to the mass, except it deals with
rotation. Angular momentum depends on how fast the rotors spin.

46
Conceptually, moment of inertia can be thought of as representing the
object’s resistance to change in angular velocity.

If there is no torque on the quadcopter motors, then the total angular

momentum must remain constant which is zero. To understand the angular
movement of the above quadcopter, think of the 2 and 4 blue
counterclockwise rotors having a positive angular momentum and the green
clockwise quadcopter motors having a negative angular momentum. I’ll
assign each motor a value of -4, +4, -4, +4, which equates to zero

To rotate the drone to the right, then a decrease in the angular velocity of
motor 1 to have an angular momentum of -2 instead of -4. If nothing else
happened, the total angular momentum of the quadcopter would now be +2.
Now, that can’t happen. The drone will now rotate clockwise so that the
body of the drone has an angular momentum of -2.

Decreasing the spin of rotor 1 did indeed cause the drone to rotate, but is also
causes a problem. It also decreased the thrust from motor 1. Now the net
upward force does not equal the gravitational force and the quadcopter
descends.

Also the quadcopter motor thrust are not the same so the quadcopter
becomes unbalanced. The quadcopter will tip downward in the direction of
motor 1.

To rotate the drone without creating the above imbalances, then a decrease in
the spin of motors 1 and 3 with an increase in the spin for rotors 2 and 4.

The angular momentum of the rotors still doesn’t add up to zero, so the
drone body must rotate. However the total force remains equal to the
gravitational force and the drone continues to hover. Since the lower thrust

47
rotors are diagonally opposite from each other, the drone can still stay
balanced.

Quadcopter Propeller Direction For Pitch And Roll

Because most quadcopters are symmetrical (DJI Phantom 4, Ehang Ghost,

Autel X-Star and Spellpro Waterproof drone for example), there is no
difference between moving forward or backward. It is also the same for side
to side motion. How to fly forward also explains how to fly backwards or
sideways.

In order to fly forward, an increase in the quadcopter motor rpm (rotation

rate) of rotors 3 and 4 (rear motors) and decrease the rate of rotors 1 and 2
(front motors) is required. The total thrust force will remain equal to the
weight, so the drone will stay at the same vertical level.

Also, since one of the rear rotors is spinning counterclockwise and the other
clockwise, the increased rotation of those motors will still produce zero
angular momentum. The same holds true for the front rotors, and so the
drone does not rotate.

However, the greater force in the back of the drone means it will tilt forward.
Now a slight increase in thrust for all rotors will produce a net thrust force
which has a component to balance the weight along with a forward motion
component.

How Quadcopter Motors Work

Above, we discussed how the quadcopter motors and propellers work. Here
is some extra information on quadcopter motors looking at the latest designs
and innovation in motor technology along with the top brands.

48
Brushless Quadcopter Motors

Nearly all quadcopters released in the past few years and going forward are
using brushless electric motors. Quadcopter brushless motors are more
efficient, more reliable and quieter than a brushed motor. The type of motor
and its design is very important. A more efficient motor means less battery
drain and more flying time.

Stability is very important for a quadcopter so the top motors produce very
little vibration on the motor meaning the flight controller has less work to do
to keep the quadcopter steady.

Here are 2 excellent articles which explain all about brushless motors and
how to choose a quadcopter motor.

Brushless Motors And How They Work

How to Choose Motors For Your Quadcopter

Clockwise (CW) and Counter Clockwise (CCW) Motor Direction

A quadcopter must have 4 motors. To have a balanced quadcopter, the

propeller rotation has to be toward the quadcopter’s main body. To achieve
this you need the quadcopter motor setup as follows:

Front Left – Clockwise motor (CW)

Front Right – Counter Clockwise motor (CCW)

Back Left – Counter Clockwise motor (CCW)

Back Right – Clockwise motor (CW)

Note: Make sure that the placement of propellers on the motors are proper.
You want to place a CCW propeller on a CCW motors etc.

49
Quadcopter Motor Brands

DJI Company – Motors, ESC And Propellers

Quadcopter Motor DirectionDJI are the largest consumer and professional

multirotor manufacturer at present. They supply 70% of drones to the
market. They also manufacture the excellent range of Zenmuse gimbals and
cameras.

In recent years they have been producing top of the range quadcopter and
multirotor motors for their own drones but also propulsion systems which
anyone can buy and use to build their own UAV.

The latest multirotor motors from DJI are the E5000, E2000, Snail and E305.

All their latest motors or propulsion systems contain the quadcopter motor,
props, electronic speed control circuits and cooling system. The DJI E5000
motor and many of their other motors are sealed to protect against rain.

We are now seeing quadcopters being used on farms for surveying the land,
fences and buildings as well as crop monitoring. Multirotors can also be used
to spray crops with the DJI MG-1S quadcopter specifically build for this
purpose. When spraying crops it is essential to have a sealed motor.

T- Motor Company – Motors, ESC and Propellers

Also knows as Tiger Motor manufacture advanced propulsion systems for

UAVs. They specialize in motors, ESCs and propellers. T-Motor produce
quadcopter motors of the highest quality which are widely used for aerial
photography, industrial, agricultural, and commercial applications.

They ESC circuits are really high spec. Let’s take a quick look at the
features on the T-Motor Alpha 40A LV ESC. The Alpha 40A LV is a low
noise, temperature and interference ESC and is very fast to respond. Field

50
Oriented Control (FOC) Technology – The principle of FOC is to control the
motor output via the adjustment of the current flow and angle which control
the magnetic field and torque of the motor.The T-Motor Alpha Series
contains intelligent features and protections for the motor as follows;

The T-Motor propeller range is vast covering FPV, Ultra Light, Polished,
Foldable in Plast and Carbon Fiber covering many different sizes.

Quadcopter Motor Thrust Calculators

Here is an article which shows you how to calculate the quadcopter motor
thrust using mathematical formula.

There are also a number of quadcopter motor thrust calculators online. Here
are the 3 most frequently used quadcopter thrust and lift calculators;

eCalc Multicopter Thrust Calculater

DriveCalc Quadcopter Lift Calculator

GoBrushless Thrust Calculator

Quadcopter Propeller Design

Prop Size Explained

Quadcopter propellers come in a huge variety of materials, dimensions and

prices from bottom to top of the range. Generally, cheaper props are less
precisely manufactured and more prone to creating vibration.

This applies especially to the relatively larger end of the prop spectrum, with
differences becoming less perceptible for smaller craft. If you are flying a
quadcopter with the intention of producing top aerial photos or film, then it
is worth spending money on top quality propellers. Also, use a quality Prop
Balancer to check your quadcopter propellers every few flights.

51
There are three simple measurements to keep in mind when choosing
propellers if you are designing or looking to improve your quadcopter.

Length – The first is length (Diameter), usually given in inches. The length
of a propeller is the diameter of a disc the prop makes when it’s spinning

The higher the Kv rating of your motors, the smaller your props need to be.
Smaller props allow for greater speeds, but reduced efficiency. A larger prop
setup (with correspondingly low Kv motors) is easier to fly steadily. It also
uses less current and lifts more weight.

The best way to gauge the right range for motors and props is referring to
manufacturer recommendations if you’re building an quadcopter.

Prop Pitch – This second measurement is also very important. Prop

dimensions are quoted in the form 21 x 7.0 inch (533 x 178 mm) which is
the DJI E2000 propulsion system. The first number refers to the propeller
length as above. The second is pitch, defined as the distance a prop would be
pulled forward through a solid in a single full revolution. For example this
propeller with a 7.0 inch pitch would move forward 7.0 inches in one
revolution.

Bore – The last is known as bore measurement, which is simply the size of
the hole in the center of the prop. This must be matched to the shaft of your
chosen motors. Adapters are available to downsize a prop’s bore.
Alternatively, some props, such as those produced by T-Motor, use a direct
mounting system whereby screws secure the props directly to the motor
head.

Self Locking – Most quadcopters today use Self Locking props. They call
these “Self locking”, because on a quadcopter, 2 motors are spinning
clockwise and the other 2 are spinning counter clockwise. By using propeller

52
threads that are the opposite to motor spin direction, the props automatically
lock themselves down and won’t come loose when flying.

Large Or Smaller Quadcopter Propellers

The greater the pitch, then the higher the thrust and necessary motor output.
Typically, multi-rotors use props with pitches in the range of 3 to 5 inches.
Lower pitches are more efficient. The larger the prop (either increasing
diameter, or pitch or both), the more energy it takes to spin it. However,
larger propeller or higher pitch length will increase your aircraft’s speed but
also use more power. Generally speaking, a prop with smaller diameter or
pitch can spin faster (higher RPM), because the motor doesn’t need to work
as hard to spin it so it pulls less current. They tend to run smoother and feels
more responsive to the sticks. The faster change of RPM due to less inertia
helps stability of the quadcopter.

Clockwise (CW) And Counter-clockwise (CCW) Propellers

The quadcopter will come with 4 propellers with the clockwise and counter-
clockwise propellers having different design. When you are buying or
viewing propellers, you will read about CW which stands for clockwise and
CCW which stands for counter-clockwise propellers. Therefore matching
CCW and CW propellers are required to generate thrust, as well as having
opposing yaw motion that cancel each other out in flight. To read further on
quadcopter propellers, here is an nice article entitled, “How To Choose
Propellers For A Mini Quad“.

The below image is of the CW and CCW of the DJI Mavic Pro quadcopter
props. Both are marked with “8330F” which is the default props with come
with the Mavic Pro. However, on the CW propeller it is actually marked as
“8330F CW”. So it is good to look closely at your props to find out whether
they are CW or CCW.
53
 CONCLUSIONS

While the initial goal of creating an autonomous quadcopter capable of

sensing obstacles was not reached in ten weeks, our group still learned a
substantial amount about robot design, fabrication, control, and arduino
programming. We used the spring test rig to determine the motor and
propeller thrust for various PWM signals. We used this information for
quadcopter frame down selection and control. We learned important
soldering and electric system fabrication skills including making a power
harness and digital to analog motor control. Our group all became proficient
arduino programmers by necessity as it was the most complex part and
required a group effort. In these ten weeks we succeeded in stabilizing the
quadcopter in two degrees of freedom. The end of the project is bittersweet.
We are proud of our accomplishments, but wish that there were more time to
improve the quadcopter. With another ten weeks we would further fine tune
the stability and add code to handle yaw and translation in the XYZ-axes.
We would also implement the ultrasonic sensors for obstacle detection and
avoidance as in the initial goal.

54
 REFERENCES

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2. ^ Stafford, Jesse (Spring 2014). "How a Quadcopter works | Clay

Allen". University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Retrieved 2015-01-20.

3. ^ Jump up to:a b Leishman, J.G. (2000). Principles of Helicopter

Aerodynamics. New York, NY: Cambridge University
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4. ^ Anderson, S.B. (1997). "Historical Overview of V/STOL Aircraft

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5. ^ Büchi, Roland (2011). Fascination Quadrocopter. ISBN 978-3-

8423-6731-9.

6. ^ Pounds, P.; Mahony, R.; Corke, P. (December 2006). "Modelling

and Control of a Quad-Rotor Robot" (PDF). In the Proceedings of
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7. ^ Hoffman, G.; Huang, H.; Waslander, S.L.; Tomlin, C.J. (20–23

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55
 South Carolina. Archived from the original(PDF) on 13 August
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8. ^ Quora. "What Makes The Quadcopter Design So Great For

Small Drones?". Forbes.

9. ^ "How-To: Quadrocopter based on Arduino". MAKE.

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10.^ "FrontPage - UAVP-NG - The Open Source Next Generation

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