EET2530 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) Parts of a Quadcopter EET2530 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

What is a Quadcopter? A quadcopter is a multirotor aircraft that uses four motors for vertical take off, landing and flight. Vertical take off and landing has the advantage of eliminating sophisticated landing gear and does not require a runway or catapult to get the aircraft into the air. A basic quadcopter consists of: a frame four motors with propellers flight controller (FC) four ESCs (electronic speed controllers) power distribution board(PDB) battery radio controller (receiver and transmitter). More advanced quadcopters usually have a GPS/compass for navigation and telemetry radios to connect with a ground station, as well as some type of switch for arming/disarming the aircraft, a safety buzzer and an optional battery monitor. They may even have a sonar range finder for sense and avoidance of obstacles. If a quadcopter is to be used for surveillance of some sort or aerial photography/videography it may be equipped with a fpv (first person video) system or onboard video equipment such as a GoPro camera and gimbal.

Frame The frame carries all the components of the quadcopter and at minimum consists of a mounting plate attached to four booms for mounting the motors. Quadcopter frames usually consist of two or more plates

Motors and Propellers The motors and propellers provide lift and direction to the quadcopter. Motors spin in 2 directions Clockwise and Counterclockwise

Flight Controller In simplest terms, the flight controller is the brains of a multirotor. It is the main "on board computer" of the quadcopter or multirotor.

ESCs (electronic speed controllers) ESCs or electronic speed controllers, control the speed of each motor. Individual ESCs are connected to each motor, a common power distribution board and the flight controller. The best ESCs are flashed with SimonK firmware. In the case of quadcopters, individual ESCs may be combined into a single four-in-one component. These are called four-in-one ESCs and are super easy to install.

Power Distribution Board A power distribution board (PDB)provides power from the battery or batteries to each ESC as well as other components such as a flight controller, video equipment etc. Power Module- Monitors Battery Voltage Power Distribution Board (PDB) Power Harness – can be used in place of a PDB

Li-Po Battery LiPo (Lithium Polymer)batteries provide the power to a quadcopter. These batteries range from 2S to 6S (the "S" is the number of cells in series) and a variety of capacities rated in milliAmp hours (mAh).

Radio Controller (R/C) The radio controller gives the ground pilot the ability to fly the quadcopter or multirotor. Radio controllers have two parts to them, a receiver which mounts on the quadcopter and a transmitter which the pilot has in her hands. Quadcopters can be controlled with a radio controller, a ground station or in some cases both. Radio Transmitter (TX) Radio Receiver (RX)

GPS/Compass A GPS/compass provides navigation and positioning data to the onboard flight controller and/or ground station. Connection to the APM Flight Controller (FC) requires 2 connections- GPS and I2C I2C Connection- Inter-Integrated Circuit allows communication between FC and GPS

Telemetry Radios A pair of telemetry radios connect the quadcopter or multirotor to the ground station wirelessly. One radio is mounted on the quadcopter and connected to the flight controller while the other is connected to either a laptop, tablet or smart phone ground station

Ground Station A basic ground station contains some sort of navigation type software. Some more advanced ground stations, like Mission Planner, have the ability to set flight paths with waypoint navigation, autonomous return to home or receive flight information from the quadcopter such as altitude, yaw, speed, battery health, GPS health, etc.

FPV (First Person Video/View) FPV stands for first person video which gives the ground pilot a first person view from the aircraft. FPV systems consist of an on board camera (usually mounted on the front of the aircraft), a transmitter/receiver and a monitor screen or FPV goggles. Some FPV systems even have the ability to record FPV video. An FPV system should not be confused with video setups specifically designed for taking aerial video footage.

Aerial Videography Is recording video from the air. In order to take quality aerial video footage, quadcopters and multirotors can be equipped with an HD camera such as a GoPro and gimbal. The camera is mounted to the gimbal and the gimbal can be mounted to the front or underside of the quadcopter. Gimbals can be stationary or have several servo motors to provide stability and various degrees of rotation to the camera.

Landing Gear Like Legs- when a video setup is mounted to the underside of a quadcopter it is often necessary to add proper landing gear to allow ground clearance for the camera and gimbal.