Building Your Own Drones

John Baichtal has written or edited over a dozen books, including the award-winning Cult of LEGO (No Starch Press, 2011), LEGO hacker bible Make: LEGO and Arduino Projects (Maker Media, 2012) with Adam Wolf and Matthew Beckler, Robot Builder (Que, 2014), and Basic Robot Building with LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 (Que, 2012). His most recent book is Maker Pro (Maker Media, 2014), a collection of essays and interviews describing life as a professional maker. John lives in Minneapolis with his wife and three children.

Introduction   xiii
Who This Book Is For   xiii
How This Book Is Organized   xiii


Chapter 1 A History of Drones   1
What Is a Drone?   2
Three Terrrains   3
Anatomy of a Drone   5
Summary   7


Chapter 2 Showcase of Cool DIY Drones   9
Bicycle Rim Quadcopter   9
3D-Printed Mini Quadcopter   9
Clothesline Racer   11
Vessels   11
Radio-Controlled Blimp   12
FPV Quadcopter   12
Open RC Trike   14
Foldable Quadcopter   14
Mini-Quadcopter   15
3D-Printed RC Boat   16
Tricopter   17
Mecanum Wheel Rover   18
Summary   19


Chapter 3 Overview of Commercial Drones and Kits   21
Parallax ELEV-8 Quadcopter   21
DJI Phantom 2 Vision+   24
OpenROV   26
Actobotics Nomad   29
Brooklyn Aerodrome Flack   31
Summary   34


Chapter 4 Building a Quadcopter I: Choosing an Airframe   35
Which Airframe?   35
Choosing Between Commercial Options   37
Making Your Own Airframe   38
Project #1: MakerBeam Airframe   41
MakerBeam   41
Parts   43
Steps   44
Summary   50


Chapter 5 Rocket Drone Project   51
Amateur Model Rocketry   51
Quick-and-Dirty Arduino Guide   54
Project #2: Data-Gathering Rocket   60
Parts for Building the Data-Gathering Rocket   60
Steps for Building the Data-Gathering Rocket   61
Programming the Payload   65
Summary   67


Chapter 6 Building a Quadcopter II: Motors and Props   69
Choose Your Motors   70
Outrunner Versus Inrunner   70
Brushed Versus Brushless   71
AC Versus DC   72
Choose Your Propellers   73
Prop Adapters   74
Project #3: Attach the Props and Motors   75
Parts   76
Steps for Attaching the Props and Motors   77
Summary   80


Chapter 7 Blimp Drone Project   81
Radio Control   81
Transmitters   82
Receivers   83
ESC (Electronic Speed Controller)   83
Project #4: Blimp Drone   84
Parts   85
Arduino Parts   86
Steps   86
Autonomous Control with an Arduino   99
Code   100
Summary   102


Chapter 8 Building a Quadcopter III: Flight Control   103
Know Your ESCs   103
Common ESCs   105
Programming ESCs   106
Receiver   109
Flight Controller   110
Flight Controller Examples   111
Installing the Flight Electronics   114
Parts   114
Installing the ESCs   114
Installing the Flight Controller   114
Installing the Receiver   116
Summary   116


Chapter 9 Drone Builder’s Workbench   117
Design It   117
Drive It   118
Measure It   120
Cut It   120
Wire It   121
Attach It   123
CNC It   124
Summary   126


Chapter 10 Building a Quadcopter IV: Power Systems   127
Choosing a Battery   128
Battery Types   128
Adding Bullet Connectors   130
Why Bullet Connectors?   130
Parts List   130
Steps for Adding Bullet Connectors   131
Assembling the Wiring Harness   137
Parts   138
Steps for Assembling the Wiring Harness   138
Wiring the Flight Controller and Receiver   143
Summary   145


Chapter 11 Waterborne Drone Project   147
Realities of Waterborne Electronics   148
Disadvantages of Waterborne Electronics   148
Advantages of Waterborne Electronics   148
Waterproofing Your Electronics   149
Sandwich Container   150
Pelican 1000-Series   151
Sealing a Tube   152
XBee Mesh Networking   153
Project: Soda Bottle Boat   154
Parts   155
Building the Drone   156
Building the Controller 166
Programming the Soda Bottle Boat   170
Summary   172


Chapter 12 Building a Quadcopter V: Accessories   173
Add Accessories to Your Quadcopter   174
Camera   174
First-Person Video (FPV)   175
Landing Gear   176
Parachute   176
Protective Plate or Dome   177
Prop Guards   178
Project: Adding Accessories to the Quadcopter   179
Install the Camera Mount   180
Install the Landing Gear   184
Install the Top Plate   186
Summary   189


Chapter 13 Making a Rover   191
Advantages and Disadvantages of Rovers   192
Advantages of Rovers   192
Disadvantages of Rovers   192
Chassis Options   193
3D Printed   193
Tamiya   194
mBot   194
Arduino Robot   195
Actobotics Bogie   196
Navigating with Radio Frequency Identification Tags   197
Project: RFID-Navigating Rover   199
Parts   200
Steps   200
Programming the RFID-Navigating Rover   217
Summary   220


Chapter 14 Building a Quadcopter VI: Software   221
Flight Control Software   222
OpenPilot   222
MultiWii   223
APM Planner 2.0   223
eMotion   224
AR.Freeflight   224
3DR Solo App   226
Configuring the MultiWii   226
Examining the MultiWii Control Sketch   228
Pre-Flight Checklist   229
Summary   230


Glossary   231


Index   237