Planning to develop simple flying drone

Thread Starter

King2

Joined Jul 17, 2022
163
I am very interested in developing drone but I want to understand the basic principle of drone before making it. I don't want to make a complex drone but want to make simple drone that makes it easy for me to understand its basic principle.

My only requirement is that my drone should be a flying drone It should be control by remote and it can fly for at least 15 minutes.

I found in my research that I need four motors and one battery.

I don't understand how to design complete system, where to start and how to proceed so I need your help in designing.
 

BobTPH

Joined Jun 5, 2013
8,804
You need a lot more than that. The motors are controlled by sophisticated electronics that keep it stable and control direction of motion. There is no such thing simple drone.
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,167
From your statements it seems that you do not actually want to make a drone, but you want to build a flying device with four motors. The remote control system and the stablizing controls are what make it a drone. It is possible to assemble a flying platform that is fairly stable by having the center of gravity adequately below the center og the four lift motors. That has actually been done with four two HP 2-stroke engines and some aluminum tubing and a lightweight lawn chair. The challenge of keeping the engine speeds close enough was the really difficult part. But it was not a drone, only a flying platform.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,706
A drone is an object hovering in free space. Consider the number of degrees of freedom such an object can have.
Hence, before tackling a drone, try a single-DOF PID controller first such as controlling the temperature of a water bath.
 

Audioguru again

Joined Oct 21, 2019
6,671
A drone's motion is a lot more than simply up and down.
To simply go up and down each of its motors needs to have its speed controller adjusted so that the drone does not go forwards or backwards or left or right or any combination of the directions. Electronics can stabilize the directions and the controls on the remote controller can change or adjust the directions.
The speed controllers also need to be adjusted so that the drone does not rotate around, unless you use the controller to rotate the drone.

Some drones use GPS to keep the drone from being blown away by the wind.
 

Thread Starter

King2

Joined Jul 17, 2022
163
You need a lot more than that. The motors are controlled by sophisticated electronics that keep it stable and control direction of motion. There is no such thing simple drone.
Micro controller can be used to control the motor but there can be other options to control the motor. I think motor should run clockwise and counterclockwise to control direction
 

Thread Starter

King2

Joined Jul 17, 2022
163
@Audioguru again
Thanks for the help, you gave me an idea of what my flying device should be like

The device should fly up and down in free space.

The device must be moved left, right, forward and backward
 

Alec_t

Joined Sep 17, 2013
14,280
I think motor should run clockwise and counterclockwise to control direction
You wouldn't be able to reverse the motor quickly enough to prevent the drone crashing. Also, sudden reversal of a motor's direction causes both mechanical and electrical stress, causing early demise of the motor and/or its controlling electronics.
 

Thread Starter

King2

Joined Jul 17, 2022
163
I want a flying device that can fly up to 15 feet in height and travel (UP, DOWN, FORWARD, BACKWARD) up to 20 feet away and it can fly for at least 15 minutes.

My question here is, if I know my requirements, how do I choose components to build an electronic system for a flying device?
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,706
I want a flying device that can fly up to 15 feet in height and travel (UP, DOWN, FORWARD, BACKWARD) up to 20 feet away and it can fly for at least 15 minutes.

My question here is, if I know my requirements, how do I choose components to build an electronic system for a flying device?
Do you have the knowledge and experience to attempt such a project?
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,706
If you feel compelled to really want to try this, here is how to start.

Begin with a single-rotor structure wired to your controller and power source.
The structure is attached to four short lengths of plastic drinking straws that ride up and down vertically on four fixed metal rods.
Your goal would be to program the controller to maintain a fixed hovering height.
 

Irving

Joined Jan 30, 2016
3,843
Do you have the knowledge and experience to attempt such a project?
Let's see...

What's your all-up weight budget/target, what's the power curve of your motors and what propeller thrust do you envisage. Therefore, given the Kt and Kv constants of your motors, what voltage and Ah do you need from your batteries to achieve and sustain 15min of flight?

If you understood that sentence then just maybe you have a chance...
 

Irving

Joined Jan 30, 2016
3,843
15 minutes is a long time for it to lift motors, batteries and its chassis.
Its do-able at a price... a friend has an FoxTech octo-drone - 8 motors - that carries a UHD camera with a huge telephoto lens, all FPV navigated with a minimum 50min flight time. That's over $9k plus the camera gear... but he makes serious money with it because its so much cheaper per hour than a full-size helicopter.
 

BobTPH

Joined Jun 5, 2013
8,804
Micro controller can be used to control the motor but there can be other options to control the motor. I think motor should run clockwise and counterclockwise to control direction
No, they fly in any direction by tilting them. Which means you have to be able to absolutely control the tilt angle. This requires accelerometers and gyroscopic sensors and lots of very complicated programming.
 

Thread Starter

King2

Joined Jul 17, 2022
163
If you feel compelled to really want to try this, here is how to start.
I really want to try to make a flying device. I'm trying to figure out how each part of a flying device will be selected.

I found that I need a micro controller that will control the motor and motor will control the fan to make the balance.

I think the micro controller should have Wi-Fi or bluetooth feature for my flying device as I want to control my device wirelessly. When I searched on the Internet for such a micro control, I found that ESP32 is the most suitable. I also found that servo motor would be best suited for this device.

What is your opinion on the selection of ESP32 and servo motor ?
 
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