Drone Delivery
Developing an drone that autonomously delivers packages.
Goal
Build and develop a drone that can be used in the applications of last-mile delivery.
Subteams
- Hardware: Build the physical drone, develop the controls algorithm for a flight controller.
- Obstacle Avoidance: Plan a long term route, detect obstacles, and avoid them.
- Flight Controller: Design and build a simple flight controller using Raspberry Pi PICOs.
- Research: Identify the latest technologies in the field that can be used by the other team.
- Mobile App: Build a mobile app that enables users to interface with the drone.
Technology
Drone hardware
- Motors: T-Motor U7 V2.0
- 6 total
- 4.55kg Lift / Motor
- Over 27kg of Thrust!
- 47.5A Draw at 100% Throttle
- Props: Tarot 1855
- 18’’ Diameter
- 5.5’’ Pitch
- Carbon fiber
- Frame: Tarot T960
- Hexacopter Configuration
- 960mm Diameter
- Battery: Tattu Plus LiPo Battery Pack
- 22000mAh
- 25C Discharge Rate
- 6S
- 22.2V
- Power Delivery (ESC): xRotor 40A
- 60A Max Current
- Rated for 6S LiPo (22.2V)
- Flight Controller: Custom controller.
- Based on Raspberry PI Pico.
- 3 axis Gyro, and 3 axis acclereometer.
- Camera: Intel RealSense D453
- Stereoscopic Depth Sensing
- < 2% Error Within 2m
- Companion Computer: Jetson Nano
- Quad-core AMD Cortex
- 4GB Onboard Memory
- 128 Cuda Cores
- Infrared sensor: TBD
- Used to find precise distance from ground to see if landing area is safe.
- Camera rotator/gimbal
- Will rotate camera from forward-facing to downwards to ensure safe landing area.
- Stabilization of camera during flight to minimize noise in optical data
- Parcel container
- Structure
- Minimize impact on aerodynamic performance
- Safe to access for users
- Food Preservation
- Keep food hot, or cold, to ensure minimal loss in quality during delivery
Drone software
- PX4: PX4 is the firmware that runs on the Pixhawk 6c. It controls and recieves data all of the motors and sensors attached.
- QGroundControl: QGroundControl is the application used to connect to, configure, and program the drone to fly autonomously.
- Robot Operating System (ROS):
- MAVSDK:
- MAVLink:
A general summary of all the progress that was made in the Fall of 2022.
How we plan the path the drone will take before it takes flight
Last modified February 5, 2023:
Updated index.md (54bed39)