ECWP MICROPROJECT

TOPIC : DRONE(UNMANNED ARIAL VEHICLE)

SUBMITTED BY : RUDRA K. RAICHA

BRANCH : COMPUTER SCIENCE

KALYAN POLYTECHNIC,JAMNAGAR

GUIDED BY:IMRAN SIR

A drone, in a technological context, is an unmanned aircraft. Drones are
more formally known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or unmanned
aircraft systems (UASes). Essentially, a drone is a flying robot.
The aircraft may be remotely controlled or can fly autonomously through
software-controlled flight plans in their embedded systems working in
conjunction with onboard sensors and GPS.
In the recent past, UAVs were most often associated with the military,
where they were used initially for anti-aircraft target practice, intelligence
gathering and then, more controversially, as weapons platforms.
Drones are now also used in a wide range of civilian roles ranging from
search and rescue, surveillance, traffic monitoring, weather monitoring
and firefighting to personal drones and business drone-based
photography, as well as videography, agriculture and even delivery
services.
Origin of a drone can be traced with special techniques to provide
relevant information to the military. The very first aircraft with reusable
type radio control mechanism was designed in the 30s and it worked like
a base model for all new advancements of today’s world.
Later, the military drones were developed with classic sensors and
camera units and now they have been fixed inside missiles too. With so
much advancement in technology, now you can easily find so many
variants of drones. Few are used for military applications but others are
finding the potential role in many big companies.
As per a recent new update, Google and Amazon are developing their
drones so that parcels can be delivered by air with ease. One more
interesting concept is presented by Facebook as they are thinking to
develop some giant drones that can carry the signal to remote locations
for direct internet access.
Drones in today’s world have also been an important part of the film
industry and news reporters are also using them to carry information
from inaccessible locations.
A typical unmanned aircraft is made of light composite materials to
reduce weight and increase manoeuvrability. This composite material
strength allows military drones to cruise at extremely high altitudes.
UAV drones are equipped with a different state of the art technology
such as infrared cameras, GPS and laser (consumer, commercial and
military UAV). Drones are controlled by remote ground control systems
(GSC) and also referred to as a ground cockpit.
An unmanned aerial vehicle system has two parts, the drone itself and
the control system.
The nose of the unmanned aerial vehicle is where all the sensors and
navigational systems are present. The rest of the body is full of drone
technology systems since there is no space required to accommodate
humans.
The engineering materials used to build the drone are highly complex
composites designed to absorb vibration, which decrease the sound
produced. These materials are very lightweight.
Drone Types And Sizes
UAV drones come in a wide variety of sizes, with the largest being
mostly used for military purposes such as the Predator drone. The next
in size is unmanned aircraft, which have fixed wings and require short
runways. These are generally used to cover large sections of land,
working in areas such as geographical surveying or to combat wildlife
poaching.
VTOL Drones
Next in size for drones are what is known as VTOL drones. These are
generally quadcopters but not all. VTOL drones can take off, fly, hover
and land vertically. The exact meaning of VTOL is “Vertical Take-Off and
Landing”.
Quite a few of the latest small UAV drones such as the DJI Mavic Air 2
take VTOL to the next level and can be launched from the palm of your
hand.
Radar Positioning & Return Home
The latest drones have dual Global Navigational Satellite Systems
(GNSS) such as GPS and GLONASS.
Drones can fly in both GNSS and non-satellite modes. For example, DJI
drones can fly in P-Mode (GPS & GLONASS) or ATTI mode, which
doesn’t use GPS. Highly accurate drone navigation is very important
when flying, especially in drone applications such as creating 3D maps,
surveying landscape and SAR (Search & Rescue) missions.
When the quadcopter is first switched on, it searches and detects GNSS
satellites. High-end GNSS systems use Satellite Constellation
technology. A satellite constellation is a group of satellites working
together giving coordinated coverage and are synchronized so that they
overlap well in coverage. Pass or coverage is the period in which a
satellite is visible above the local horizon.
UAV Drone GNSS On Ground Station Remote Controller. The radar
technology will signal the following on the remote controller display;

 The signal that is enough drone GNSS satellites have been

detected and the drone is ready to fly
 Display the current position and location of the drone in relation to
the pilot
 Record the home point for ‘Return To Home’ safety feature

Most of the latest UAVs have 3 types of Return to Home drone

technology as follows;

 The pilot initiated a return to home by pressing a button on Remote

Controller or in an app
 A low battery level, where the UAV will fly automatically back to the
home point
 Loss of contact between the UAV and Remote Controller, with the
UAV flying back automatically to its home point

The latest high tech drones are now equipped with collision avoidance
systems. These use obstacle detection sensors to scan the
surroundings, while software algorithms and SLAM technology produce
the images into 3D maps allowing the drone to sense and avoid. These
systems fuse one or more of the following sensors to sense and avoid;

 Vision Sensor
 Ultrasonic
 Infrared
 Lidar
 Time of Flight (ToF)
 Monocular Vision

Gyroscope Stabilization, IMU And Flight Controllers

Gyro stabilization technology gives the UAV drone its smooth flight
capabilities. The gyroscope works almost instantly to the forces moving
against the drone, keeping it flying or hovering very smoothly. The
gyroscope provides essential navigational information to the central flight
controller.
The inertial measurement unit (IMU) works by detecting the current rate
of acceleration using one or more accelerometers. The IMU detects
changes in rotational attributes like pitch, roll and yaw using one or more
gyroscopes. Some IMU includes a magnetometer to assist with
calibration against orientation drift.
The Gyroscope is a component of the IMU and the IMU is an essential
component of the drones flight controller. The flight controller is the
central brain of the drone.
Here is a terrific article, which covers gyro stabilization and IMU
technology in drones.
UAV Drone Propulsion Technology
The propulsion system (motors, electronic speed controllers and
propellers) are the drone technology, which moves the UAV into the air
and to fly in any direction or hover. On a quadcopter, the motors and
propellers work in pairs with 2 motors/propellers rotating clockwise (CW
Propellers) and 2 motors rotating Counter Clockwise (CCW Propellers).
They receive data from the flight controller and the electronic speed
controllers (ESC) on the drone motor direction to either fly or hover.
Top UAV drone motors and propulsion systems are highly advanced and
include the following components;

 Motor Stator
 Motor Bell (rotor)
 Windings
 Bearings
 Cooling System
 Electronic Speed Controllers
 ESC Updater
 Propellers
 Wiring
 Arm
Components,structure and parts of a drone

Drone frame or chassis:

The frame or chassis is the body of the drone and is the component that
serves the function of holding all the parts together. Therefore, each of the
parts of a drone are attached to it according to a configuration that allows the
UAV to have an excellent aerodynamic performance.
It functions as the structure of a drone that allows all the components to be
assembled and is usually the one that defines the size of the drone.

Arms
The arms of a drone are the components that support the motors and are
attached to the frame or base structure of the drone. Long arms offer greater
stability, while short arms allow for better manoeuvrability. In some cases, the
arms are part of the drone’s base structure or frame, so they are not counted
as separate parts.

Motors

Another element of a drone that is of great importance is the motors. They are
the fundamental parts that help keep the drone up and running. The
motors of a drone are located at the ends of each of the arms of the frame and
are responsible for generating the propulsive force for the drone to soar.
Drone propellers:

The motors do not have the capacity to lift the drone on their own, as they
must be connected to propellers that are in charge of rotating to provide
lift to the drone. Therefore, each motor has one or two propellers that
together make up the powertrain.Most drones have a pair of standard
propellers, which rotate counterclockwise, and a pair of reverse propellers.
This provides greater stability during flight.

Battery:

The motors as well as the other electrical and electronic components of the
drone need power to operate, which they get from a battery that is located in
the frame. There are various types of batteries for drones, although the most
common are Li-po batteries, which offer great performance and autonomy in
flight.
Flight Controller Board

One of the most important parts of a drone is the controller board (not to be confused
with the identification plates or number plates of a drone) which acts as the “brain”
of the UAV. This drone flight controller is responsible for receiving and recording all
the information coming from the controller, the geolocation system, the sensors and
other interconnected elements, while sending the necessary signals to control the
drone’s movements during flight.
Other components of great relevance to the control of the drone, such as
the compass, gyroscope and sensors, are usually located on this board.
Working Principle of Drone and Flow
Pattern
 The subject of Fluid dynamics plays a significant role in the
design and development of aircraft and drones. This subject
consists of the working principle of the aerodynamics of aircraft.
 A sufficient amount of upward force is required to lift the vehicle
against gravity which is named Lift.
 A force created to move the vehicle or body in motion is called
thrust. These forces can be studied using the kinematic laws of
fluid flows

 When air flows over an aerofoil and pressure, viscous and drag
force act on the profiles
 Force is directly proportional to the velocity of air at the inlet
 The flow pattern around the cross-section of the aerofoil or
propeller is shown below. High fluid pressure at the bottom and
low pressure at the top of the propeller causes an upward force
which is called a lift. This force is responsible for lifting the weight
of an aero-plane or drone.
 The amount of lift force depends on the angle of inclination of the
aerofoil or propeller.

 Based on the principle of conservation of energy in fluid flow

(Bernoulli’s principle, the sum of all forms of energy in a fluid
is constant along the streamline
 When air flows over an aerofoil or wing, its velocity increases at
the top portion. But the pressure of air decreases.
  In contrast, the air velocity decreases and pressure increase at the
bottom side of the blade. The next pressure difference across the
aerofoil results in an upward force which is called a lift
 CFD modeling of flow over an aerofoil has been important in
many vehicular and aerospace industries

Types of drones based on the number

of Propellors
A number of propellors are provided to drones. More propellors improve the
stability of drones and load-carrying capacity but such drones need more
battery power to drive more motors to get high power. A quadcopter is a more
popular drone.

 Bicopter (2 propellers)
 Triplecopter (3 propellors)
 Quadcopter (4 propellers)
 Hexacopter (6 propellers)
 Octacopter (8 propellers)
Working Principle of Quadcopter
 A quadcopter has four propellors at four corners of the frame
 For each propeller, speed and direction of rotation are
independently controlled for balance and movement of the drone
 In a traditional quadrotor, all four rotors are placed at
an equal distance from each other
 To maintain the balance of the system, one pair of rotors rotates
in a clockwise direction and the other pair rotates in an anti-
clockwise direction
 To move up (hover), all rotors should run at high speed. By
changing the speed of rotors, the drone can be moved forward,
backward, and side-to-side
Quadcopter Dynamics
 The movement of drone are classified into four types based on the
relation motion between four propellors: 1) throttle, 2) Pitch, 3)
Roll, and 4) Yaw
 The details of quadcopter dynamics are explained in many
references

 Throttle/ Hover: up and down movement of the drone is called

throttle
 If all four propellors run at normal speed, then the
drone will move down
 If all four propellors run at a higher speed, then the
drone will move up. This is called the hovering of a
drone
 Pitch: movement of a drone about a lateral axis (either forward
or backward) is called pitching motion
 If two rear propellors run at high speed, then the drone
will move in a forwarding direction
 If two front propellors run at high speed, then the drone
will move in the backward direction
 Roll: movement of a drone about the longitudinal axis is called
rolling motion
 If two right propellors run at high speed, then the drone
will move in the left direction
 If two left propellors run at high speed, then the drone
will move in the right direction
 Yawn: the rotation of the head of the drone about the vertical
axis (either the left or right) is called Yawning motion
 If two propellors of a right diagonal run at high speed,
then the drone will rotate in an anti-clockwise direction
  If two propellors of a left diagonal run at high speed,
then the drone will rotate in a clockwise direction

Forces and Moments Acting on a

Drone
Major forces acting on a Drone
When a drone moves in the air, various forces act on it. The resultant force will
decide its movement. There are major forces acting on a drone
 Weight
 Due to the mass of the drone, the body mass force
always acts in the direction of gravity
 Higher the weight of the drone, more power is required
to lift and move the drone
 Weight of drone = mass of drone × acceleration due to
gravity
 Lift:
 The vertical force acting on the drone is called lift
 This force is due to pressure differences across the drone
(in the vertical direction). Hence, the speed, size, and
shape of the propeller blade decide the amount of lift
force
 Lift is essential to lift the body against the gravity
 To create this force, all four propellors run at high speed
to lift the drone
 Thrust
 The force acting on the drone in the direction of motion
is called thrust. However, for drone dynamics, it is
normal to the rotor plane.
 During hovering, the thrust is purely vertical. If thrust is
inclined then the drone will tilt forward or backward.
 This force is essential to move the drone in the desired
direction at equal speed
 To get desired motion, two propellors have been given
high speed
 Drag
 The force acting on the drone in the opposite direction
of motion due to air resistance is called drag
  This may be because of pressure difference and viscosity
of air
 To reduce the drag, the aerodynamic shape of the drone
is selected

Kinematic for Quad-copter

 The thrust produced by each propeller is perpendicular to the

plane of rotation of propellors. It is directly proportional to the
square of the angular velocity of the propeller

Fi = kf ×ωi2

 If L is defined as the distance between two motors or propellors

for any diagonal of the drone, then the reaction moments about
the X-axis and Y-axis
Mx = (F3 – F4) × L
My = (F1 – F2) × L
 Newton’s second law of motion
 For linear motion: Force = mass × linear acceleration
 For rotational motion: Torque = inertia × angular
acceleration
Hovering Motion
 Equilibrium Conditions for hovering
mg = F1 + F2 + F3 + F4
All moments = 0

 Equation of motion
m = F1 + F2 + F3 + F4 – mg
 m=0
Rise or Fall Motion (Throttle up)
 Conditions for hovering (rise)
mg < F1 + F2 + F3 + F4
All moments = 0

 Conditions for Fall

mg > F1 + F2 + F3 + F4
All moments = 0

 Equation of motion
m = F1 + F2 + F3 + F4 – mg
m>0
Yaw Motion
 Conditions for hovering
mg = F1 + F2 + F3 + F4
All moments ≠ 0

 Equation of motion
mass* linear acceleration = F1 + F2 + F3 + F4 – mg
Izz *angular acceleration@ Z-axis = M1+ M2+M3+ M4
Pitch and Roll Motion
 Conditions for hovering
mg < F1 + F2 + F3 + F4
All moments ≠ 0

 Equation of motion
mass* linear acceleration = F1 + F2 + F3 + F4 – mg
Ixx * angular acceleration @ x-axis = (F3 – F4)×L

Rigid-body dynamics
 To calculate individual speeds and forces acting on drones, the
three-dimensional rigid-body dynamics should be modeled
 The first step is to identify the reference coordinates, the direction
of rotor speed and forces acting the drones
 For the rigid body, we have to consider the effect of aerodynamic,
inertial, gravitational, and gyroscope
 Aerodynamic Forces: rotation of the propellors in air causes
various forces such as friction and drag
 Secondary aerodynamic effects: blade flapping, ground
effect, and local flow fields
 Inertial counter torques: gravitational forces acting at the
center of drone affect the rotation of propellors
 Gyroscopic effects: change in the orientation of drone body
and plane rotation of propellors.

 Based on Newton-Euler equations, all forces and moments acting

on a quadcopter are combined and result in a complete model of
the drone dynamics
 This physical model is useful to control the desired motion of the
quadcopter
 How to operate a Drone
 Operating a drone can be a fun and rewarding experience, but it’s
important to know how to do so safely and legally
 Here are some general steps to operate a drone:
1.
1. Read the manual: The first step is to read the drone
manual carefully, as each drone model is unique and has
its own set of instructions.
2. Register your drone: Depending on your location,
you may need to register your drone with the
appropriate authorities.
3. Charge your drone battery: Make sure your drone
battery is fully charged before flying it.
4. Find a suitable location: Choose a location that is
open, clear, and away from any obstacles like trees,
buildings, or power lines.
5. Check the weather: Avoid flying your drone in windy
or rainy conditions. Check the weather forecast before
flying.
6. Turn on the drone: Turn on the drone and the remote
control.
7. Calibrate the drone: Follow the instructions in the
manual to calibrate the drone before flying.
8. Take off: Push the throttle stick slowly and smoothly to
take off the drone.
9. Fly the drone: Use the remote control to maneuver the
drone in the air. Keep it at a safe distance from people
and property.
10.Land the drone: When you are ready to land the
drone, slowly bring it down to the ground using the
throttle stick.
11. Turn off the drone: After landing the drone, turn off
the drone and the remote control.
Precautions During the Drone Use
 Drones can be a fun and useful tool, but they can also be
dangerous if not used properly. Here are some precautions to
keep in mind when using a drone:
1.
1. Know the laws and regulations:
 Before flying a drone, make sure you know the
laws and regulations in your area
 This includes any local, state, and federal
regulations, as well as any restrictions on
where you can fly your drone.
2. Always keep your drone in sight:
 It’s important to keep your drone within your
line of sight at all times
 This will help you avoid collisions with other
objects or people.
3. Fly in open areas
 Try to fly your drone in open areas away from
people, buildings, and other obstacles
 This will help you avoid accidents and crashes.
4. Respect people’s privacy:
 Don’t fly your drone over private property
without permission
 Also, avoid flying your drone close to people’s
homes or in areas where people have a
reasonable expectation of privacy.
5. Avoid flying in bad weather:
  Drones are not designed to handle extreme
weather conditions like strong winds, heavy
rain, or snow
 Avoid flying your drone in these conditions, as
they can cause your drone to crash or become
damaged.
6. Keep your drone in good condition:
 Regularly check your drone for any signs of
damage or wear and tear
 Replace any damaged parts before flying.
7. Practice safe battery use:
 Always use the manufacturer’s recommended
batteries and charger
 Avoid charging your batteries unattended and
never use damaged or swollen batteries.
8. Be prepared for emergencies: Keep a first aid kit
and a fire extinguisher nearby in case of emergencies.
Also, be prepared to land your drone quickly if
necessary.
 By following these precautions, you can help ensure a safe and
enjoyable drone experience for yourself and others.
Application and Development of
Drones
 Drones or UAE has a lot of application in space, defense, and
military purposes, delivery of food items, and spraying of
pesticides in farming
 Refer to the post for the application of drones in industries on this
website
 Application of drone and scope of CFD modeling
Scope of CFD Modeling for Drone
Aerodynamics
 Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predicts the pressure
gradient required for lifting a drone
 The following parameters decide the aerodynamic design of the
drone
 Payload of drone
 Number and speed of propellors
 Aerodynamics of propellors
 Spacing between the propellors
 Lift coefficient of drone
 The thrust generated by the drone
 CFD modeling will help to optimize the aerodynamics and
applications of drone
Summary
 The working principle of drones is similar to the flying of aero-
planes
 The vertical lift force is created due to pressure difference across
the rotating blades
 The drag and gravity forces act against its vertical motions
 By controlling the speed and directions of different rotors we can
control the motion of the drone or UAV
 The drone consists of mechanical, electrical, and electronic
components
 Drones have many applications in defense and military purposes,
space, surveillance, agriculture, and many more.
 CFD modeling predicts the pressure gradient which is helpful for
the aerodynamic design of the drone
 We have to understand the coordination of several components,
including the frame, motors, propellors, battery, flight controller,
and sensors
 The flight controller receives input from the pilot or autonomous
system and sends signals to the motors to control the drone’s
movement
 Sensors provide data to the flight controller, which uses it to
stabilize the drone in the air and adjust its movement
 With their versatility and range of applications, drones are likely
to become even more widespread in the years to come.