A Completely Autonomous sUAS Drone

Troubleshooting of power distribution PCB after analyzing data logs from flight computer

Debugging of auto pilot code using wireless communication protocol in the field

Drone being assembled and wired using a custom made wiring harness

Structural failure of upper center plate after a harsh landing

Final assembled drone in background with the small scale proof of concept in the foreground

Project Overview

  • Design, build and test an autonomous drone to compete at the annual UAS Showcase sponsored by Raytheon Intelligence and Space

  • The drone will have to autonomously complete three challenges

    • Lift off from the zero-yard line on a football field, detect the 30-yard line and land as close as possible to it

    • Lift off from the 30-yard line and find a unique logo anywhere on the football field, navigate towards it and land directly on the logo

    • Navigate through an obstacle course in as little time as possible

  • Additionally, I was the hardware design lead for the team (a total of ~14 people) so my responsibilities included:

    • Design of the overall powertrain of the drone

    • Becoming FAA Part 107 certified

    • Development of the fully parametric CAD model for the 3D-printed drone frame

    • FEA simulation of the mechanical loading on the drone during landing

    • Flight controller programming and tuning for stability and maneuverability

    • Image recognition hardware selection

    • GPS/RTK hardware selection, setup and testing

    • Managing the team of other engineers and ensuring deadlines were met

    • Combination of independent development work and cross-functional collaboration with Raytheon

Challenges:

  • Structural optimization of the drone frame to survive testing

  • Stability of drone in high wind environments

  • Converting the vision data into a form that allowed for precision landing

  • Tilt mechanism to move camera from downward facing to forward facing

  • Obstacle course maze solving algorithm implementation

  • Long range communication

  • RTK GPS setup

  • Team management at times

Results:

  • The design won 2nd place overall at the UAS showcase

  • The drone completed all 3 challenges without any human intervention