OPERATION

MANUAL
SPRING SEMESTER REPORT
Indoor Quad-rotor Control
M.E. Team Number 01
Members:
ECE DEPARTMENT:
Jigar Patel: Team Leader
John Chung: Software/Hardware Engineer
Matthew Kishe: Team Webmaster/Test Engineer
ME DEPARTMENT:
Adam Sobiewski: Team Leader/Treasurer
Andrew Silva: Sponsor Liaison
Gabriel Morales: Mechanical Engineer

SPONSOR
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE
JABIL ELECTRONICS

Contents
I.

Function Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 2

II.

Project Specifications ............................................................................................................................ 2

III.

Operation Procedures ...................................................................................................................... 3

Hardware Assembly ............................................................................................................................... 3
Firmware .................................................................................................................................................. 7

IV.

Addition Assembly Required ........................................................................................................... 9

V.

Troubleshooting ...................................................................................................................................... 9

VI.

Future Repair/Replacement ............................................................................................................ 9

VII.

Spare Parts ........................................................................................................................................ 10

Table of Figures
Figure 1: Propeller Guard.............................................................................................................................. 2
Figure 2: Support Arm.................................................................................................................................... 2
Figure 3: Protective housing ......................................................................................................................... 3
Figure 4: Landing gear and motor assembly ............................................................................................ 4
Figure 5: Main frame Assembly1 .................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 6: X-frame Configuration1 ................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 7: PDB mounting1 ............................................................................................................................... 5
Figure 8: ESC cable connections1 ............................................................................................................... 6
Figure 9: PX4 mounted onto the bottom of the frame ............................................................................ 6
Figure 10: Cable connection for hardware .............................................................................................. 7
Figure 11: QGC PX4FMU CONFIG/SCAN Screenshot ............................................................................... 8
Figure 12: Installation instructions for protective housing. ....................................................................... 9

Page 1 of 11

I.

Function Analysis
The protective housing is comprised of eight (8) total parts consisting of four (4) support arms
and four (4) propeller guards, both shown below. The propeller guards enclose each motor
assembly to prevent it from coming into contact with any obstacle in the event of a crash.
The propeller guards are connected to the main quadcopter frame via support arms. The
support arms are designed to transfer the load from the propeller guard through the center
of mass of the quadcopter.

FIGURE 1: P ROPELLER G UARD

FIGURE 2: S UPPORT A RM

II.

Project Specifications
The protective housing shown below is expected to withstand any indoor obstacle impact or
crash resulting from flight failure to prevent damage to any of the quadcopters
components. In addition, the added weight of the protective housing is not likely to
decrease flight time by a substantial amount.

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FIGURE 3: P ROTECTIVE HOUSING

Furthermore, the protective housing will protect the users from harm during handling of
quadcopter. In addition to disconnecting the battery, the protective housing will keep the
users hands and fingers outside of the propellers spinning radius. Eyes and hand protection is
still a requirement while handling the quadcopter.

III.

Operation Procedures
Hardware Assembly
3DR provides a well described guide for the hardware assembly of the quadcopter. This
manual can be found at the following link. The following are used in the assembly of the
quadcopter:

3DR Quad D Frame

o

2 fiberglass plates

1 fiberglass PX4

I fiberglass accessory plate

4 aluminum arms (2 black-back, 2 blue-front)

Fiberglass landing gear (legs)

Power distribution board (PDB)

4 880kV motors

4 propellers (11 X 4.7)

4 electronic speed controllers (ESCs)

Misc. Parts (washers, nuts, screws, and spacers)

PX4FMU

PX4IO
Page 3 of 11

PX4FLOW

PPM sum receiver

Telemetry Module

Cables for connecting all the modules together

Refer to the site for detailed instructions on how to unbox and assemble a quadcopter.
Below are a summary of the steps for putting together the quadcopter.
a. Start with putting together the landing gear onto the arms with spacers in between
the legs, do this for all four arms (See Figure 4)

Parts used:
o Two M3X25mm screw (green)
o Two M3 metal washer (pink)
o Two M3X18mm spacers
o Four M3X5mm screws (blue)

b. Mount the motors onto the end of the arm. Insert the motor cables into the side of
the arm, do this for all four arms (See Figure 4)

Parts used:
o Two M3X5mm screws (blue)
o Two M3 lock washers (orange)

FIGURE 4: LANDING GEAR AND MOTOR ASSEMBLY 1

c. Once all four arms are done, assemble the main frame top and bottom plates (See
Figure 5)

Four M3X30 mm screws (blue)

Four M3X25 mm screws (green)

Eight M3 metal nuts (pink)

Four M3 lock washers (orange)

Image from http://store.3drobotics.com/products/3dr-quad-frame-kit-electronics

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Four M3X08 mm spacers

Four 3X5mm screws (red)

FIGURE 5: MAIN FRAME A SSEMBLY 1

d. Mount the PDB onto the four spacers in the middle of the bottom plate. Make sure
that the front arrow on the PDB matches the copters convention and configuration
type (X frame configuration). (See Figure 7)

FIGURE 6: X-FRAME CONFIGURATION 1

FIGURE 7: PDB MOUNTING 1

e. Connect the ESC cables to the respective motor cables. See Figure 8 to obtain the
correct directions for the motors. Directions are shown in Figure 6.
NOTE: Do not secure the ESCs until the directions have been verified (this step is
explained in the next section)

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FIGURE 8: ESC CABLE CONNECTIONS 1

f.

Mount the PX4FMU and PX4IO onto a plate and use spacers to attach it to the
bottom plate.

FIGURE 9: PX4 MOUNTED ONTO THE BOTTOM

OF THE FRAME

g. Use double sided tape or Velcro to stick the RC receiver, and telemetry receiver onto
the top of the copter and use M3X8mm nylon screws to mount the PX4FLOW onto the
bottom of the accessory plate.
h. Use the figure below to make all the cable connections to the PX4FMU/IO board (See

Page 6 of 11

FIGURE 10: CABLE CONNECTION FOR

i.

HARDWARE 2

Once all the components are correctly connected move to the firmware section to
flash the firmware.

Firmware
This section talks about setting up the PX4FMU along with the carrier PX4IO board. Make sure
you have an empty Micro SD card. First step is to install the firmware using QGroundControl
(QGC).
a. QGroundControl (QGC) Software
Download the most recent version of QGroundControl which can be downloaded
by clicking here and then follow these steps to get ready for your first flight
b. PX4FMU Firmware
In QGC click on the CONFIG then on the big green SCAN button. Click on the
flash/upgrade firmware button to load the firmware onto the PX4FMU.

High resolution image http://pixhawk.org/_media/airframes/x5/buildlog_q_x5_26.jpg?cache=

Page 7 of 11

FIGURE 11: QGC PX4FMU CONFIG/SCAN SCREENSHOT

c. PX4IO Firmware
Hold down the safety switch while powering on the PX4 to renter the boot loader
mode. If done correctly the red led on the IO board will flash rapidly. Let the FMU
boot normally, it will automatically upgrade the processor firmware.
d. Airframe Setup
Once the firmware is flashed onto the board the first thing to do in QGC is to make
sure the right Airframe has been selected. This is done by clicking on the AIRFRAME
CONFIG button on the left toolbar and following the onscreen instructions.
e. Sensor Calibration
Next is the sensor calibrations which is done by clicking on the SENSOR CALIBRATION
from the left toolbar. Follow the on-screen instructions to calibrate all the sensors (i.e.
Magnetometer, Gyro meter, and Accelerometer)
f.

RC Calibration
After the sensors are calibrated, the remote controller (RC) needs to be calibrated to
set the min and max values for the RC inputs. This is done by clicking on the RC
CALIBRATION button from the left toolbar and following instructions.

g. Manual Mode flight Test

Once all the previous steps are successfully completed a manual mode flight test is
to be performed. The USB will not provide sufficient power to spin the motors and thus
the battery should be connected to the system and the USB shall no longer be
connected. Follow the steps below to enter Manual Mode:
1. Make sure RC calibration is done first
2. Start QGC (optional)
3. Connect PX4 board to the battery
4. Connect PX4 board to USB (for data collection if telemetry is not connected)
5. Turn on the RC transmitter
6. Hold down the safety switch (blinking red light should now be solid red
indicating ready to arm status)
7. Hold the RC throttle stick to the bottom left (this is the method for arming the
copter)
8. You should hear the audio alarm for ARMED
9. Release the safety switch
10. The servos should now move
If you are having trouble make sure the Throttle and Yaw channels are not reversed
and also make sure that the ESCs are calibrated.
h. Telemetry on PX4
Plug in the telemetry to the board using a 3DR Radio adapter cable to the UART2
port of the board.

Page 8 of 11

IV.

Addition Assembly Required

This section talks about the installation
of the protective housing. Twenty-four
(24) M3x25.4mm screws and M3 nuts
are required for installation. Pre-drilled
holes and support arm and propeller
guard should be lined up and secured
using a screw and nut. The arrows and
solid sots in Figure 2 illustrate where
each screw and nut should be placed.

F IGURE 12: I NSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROTECTIVE

HOUSING .

V.

Troubleshooting
Most of the troubleshooting requires research since there are many stages at which
troubleshooting may occur. Primary sites referred to were the manufactures sites. (i.e. PX4,
3DR etc.)

VI.

Future Repair/Replacement
This section talks about the future repairs and replacements which are specific to the future
goals of the project. Major code modifications and replacements are anticipated to
implement the Velocity based flight control. This involves modifications to the PX4 firmware.
Specific files that need to be modified are listed below:

The multirotor velocity controller folder contains the source code that needs
modifications to implement the velocity controller. (Filename:
mc_vel_control_main.cpp)

The PX4 depends on a RC script file to initialize all the sensors, IO board, Inter Process
Communication (IPC), PX4 Flow, MavLink (communication protocols) and the
controller module. This file needs to be updated onto the SD card for the initialization.

The PX4 also requires configuration to set the controller to recognize the vehicle type,
and to set the parameters to be used by the quadcopter. i.e PWM cutoff frequencies.

Page 9 of 11

In addition to the controls listed above, spare parts for each component of the protective
housing will be fabricated in case of failure of one piece. The parts were designed to be
easily interchangeable if a piece were to fracture. Prior to each flight, all screws, nuts, and
components of the protective housing, as well as the entire quadcopter system, should be
checked for any issues to prevent catastrophic failure during flight.

VII.

Spare Parts
This section provides the specs and descriptions of the required spare parts needed to
minimize downtime in case of crashes. Click here to buy these parts.
TABLE 1: S PARE P ARTS LIST
Part Name

Propellers

Specifications

11 X 4.7
11 X 4.7P

Description
Used for flying the
copter, the letter P
which stands for
pusher is used for the
clockwise rotating
arms. While the
propellers without the
P are used for the
counter-clockwise
rotating arms.

M3 X 24mm
M3 X 08 mm
M3 X 18 mm
M3 X 30 mm

Black nylon spacers of

varied lengths.
*NOTE: have lots of
these on hand, easy to
break hard to find.

Legs

N/A

Legs break easily

specially when
learning flight and
landing. Having spares
or re-designing legs will
be helpful.

Battery

LiPo Battery 3S
3300 mAh

Lithium
Polymer
battery 20C discharge
rate

Spacers

Images

Page 10 of 11

Male
Female

Dean connectors are

widely used all through
the copter
components. The
motor board, ESCs,
batteries all use
male/female dean
connectors.

ESCs

20A-BEC

Electronic Speed
Controllers (ESCs) a
spare set would be
helpful (4 ESCs)

Motors

880 kV

Spare set of motors (4

motors)

Arms

3DR Aluminum
Arms

Dean
Connectors

Support
Arms

Protective
Housing
Support Arms

Propeller
Guards

Protective
Housing
Propeller
Guards

Spare arms needed in

case of crashes, blue is
for front, black is for
the back.
Spare
arms
are
essential in the event
of a crash resulting in a
compromised
arm.
Fabrication takes 24
hours to cure.
Due to long and
tedious
fabrication
time, spare propeller
guards are essential in
the event of a crash
resulting in a fracture.

Page 11 of 11