MAKE Terry Kilby User manual

Build and Customize
Your Own Quadcopter
Terry Kilby & Belinda Kilby
Make:
Getting Started
with Drones
Terry Kilby & Belinda Kilby
Make: Getting Started with Drones
Technology & Engineering / Flight
Make: Getting Started
with Drones
In Getting Started with Drones, you’ll learn:
Drones, quadcopters, unmanned aerial vehicles: whatever they’re
called, remotely controlled aircraft have changed the way we see the
world, the way we manage crops, the way we sell real estate, and the
way we make war. To use them fully requires at least a passing familiarity
with aerodynamics, radio telemetry, electronics, programming,
mapreading, motors, video transmission, and 3D modeling.
This book gives you working knowledge of aerial robotics, by showing
you how to build a Little Dipper 300-class autonomous quadcopter as
an example. By reading and following the steps and advice contained in
this book, you’ll learn how quadcopters work and how to solve some of
the engineering challenges they present. Throughout the book, the
authors offer alternative options and comparable parts to suit your own
needs, whether you choose to build a quadcopter or an octocopter.
»The principles of flight and how they apply to robotic drones
»What kinds of airframes are available
»How to assemble a drone, following easy step-by-step instructions
»The basics of drone design and how to choose the right components
»How to integrate sensors, controllers, and custom behaviors
Make:
makezine.com
US $24.99 CAN $28.99
ISBN: 978-1-4571-8330-0
Make to the skies!
Since 2010, Belinda and Terry Kilby have been designing and building
small UAVs for artistic and practical aerial photography through their
company, Elevated Element. As early adopters, they have become
unofficial spokespeople for UAV technology.

Make:
Getting
Started with
Drones
Terry Kilby and Belinda Kilby

978-1-457-18330-0
[LSI]
Make: Getting Started with Drones
by Terry Kilby and Belinda Kilby
Copyright © 2016 Elevated Element, LLC. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Published by Maker Media, Inc., 1160 Battery Street East, Suite 125, San Francisco,
CA 94111.
Maker Media books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promo-
tional use. Online editions are also available for most titles (http://safaribookson-
line.com). For more information, contact our corporate/institutional sales depart-
ment: 800-998-9938 or [e-mail].
Editor: Patrick Di Justo
Production Editor: Matthew Hacker
Copyeditor: Eileen Cohen
Proofreader: Jasmine Kwityn
Indexer: Angela Howard
Interior Designer: David Futato
Cover Designer: Brian Jepson
Illustrator: Rebecca Demarest
October 2015: First Edition
Revision History for the First Edition
2015-10-02 First Release
See http://oreilly.com/catalog/errata.csp?isbn=9781457183300 for release details.
Make:, Maker Shed, and Maker Faire are registered trademarks of Maker Media, Inc.
The Maker Media logo is a trademark of Maker Media, Inc. Make: Getting Started with
Drones, and related trade dress are trademarks of Maker Media, Inc.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their
products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book,
and Maker Media, Inc. was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been
printed in caps or initial caps.
While the publisher and the authors have used good faith eorts to ensure that the
information and instructions contained in this work are accurate, the publisher and
the authors disclaim all responsibility for errors or omissions, including without limi-
tation responsibility for damages resulting from the use of or reliance on this work.
Use of the information and instructions contained in this work is at your own risk. If
any code samples or other technology this work contains or describes is subject to
open source licenses or the intellectual property rights of others, it is your responsi-
bility to ensure that your use thereof complies with such licenses and/or rights.

Contents
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
1/Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
SomeDefinitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
WhoIsThisBookFor?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
TheDroneUserCommunity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
BriefHistoryofAutonomousFlight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
RCModelAirplane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
TheAdventofMicrochips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
TheTechnologyofDrones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
TheLaunchofGPS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
TheSmartphone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
SmallAutopilotFlightController. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
PrinciplesofFlight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
WeightGravity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Lift. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Drag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Thrust. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
FlightManeuversAircraftMovementwithStickMapping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Throttle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
YawRudder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Pitch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Roll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2/Airframes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
WhatIsanAirframe?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
ThrustVectoring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
AircraftDesigns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
KeepingItBalanced. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
BuildingtheLittleDipperAirframe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Step-by-StepBuildInstructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
StepInstalltheStandos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
iii

StepCompletetheDirtyFrameAssembly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
StepAssembletheCleanFrame. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
StepAttachtheTwoSubframesTogether. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3/Power Train. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Propellers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Direction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
SizeandPitch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
BalancingProps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Motors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Sizes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
kVRating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
PairingwiththeRightProps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
TotalLift. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
ElectronicSpeedControllers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
FlightBattery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Step-by-StepBuildInstructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
StepMountthePowerDistributionBoardPDB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
StepSolderontheBulletConnectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
StepMounttheSpeedControllers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
StepSolderupthePowerSupply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
StepMountBrushlessMotors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
StepConnectBrushlessMotors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
StepCleanUp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
WrappingUp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4/Flight Controller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
WhatIsaFlightController?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
OpenSourceVersusClosedSource. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Sensors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
FlightCharacteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
SoftwareAssistant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Step-by-StepBuildInstructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
StepMounttheFlightController. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
StepWireuptheFlightControllerOutputs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
StepAttachtheTwoSubframestoEachOther. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
WrappingUp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5/GPS, Compass, and Battery Monitor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
GPS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
FlightModes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Compass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
iv Contents

BatteryMonitor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Step-by-StepBuildInstructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
StepMounttheGPSPuck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
StepConnectGPSandCompasstotheAPM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
StepInstalltheBatteryMonitor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
WrappingUp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
6/Transmitter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
WhatIsaTransmitter?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
MostCommonFrequencyBands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
DierentModesAroundtheWorld. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
PWMVersusPPM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Step-by-StepBuildInstructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
StepIdentifyWhatYouNeed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
StepMounttheReceiver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
StepPlugintheReceiver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7/Telemetry Radios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
SoftwareMonitoringandControl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Step-by-StepBuildInstructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
StepMounttheGroundStationRadio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
StepPreptheAircraftRadioforMounting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
StepPlugintheRadio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
StepMounttheAircraftRadio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
8/Camera and FPV Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
PopularDroneCameras. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
MicroFourThirdsCameras. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
TheMobiusActionCam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
FPVforaLiveStream. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Step-by-StepBuildInstructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
StepFastentheCameraMount. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
StepAttachtheVibrationIsolationPlate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
StepPlacetheCameraintheQuick-ReleaseMount. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
9/ArduPilot Mega (APM) Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Step-by-StepBuildInstructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
StepUpdateFirmware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
StepConnectandCompleteMandatorySetup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
StepOptionalHardware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Let’sExploretheRestofMissionPlanner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
FlightModes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Contents v

GeoFence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
BasicTuning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
ExtendedTuning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
StandardParams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
FlightData. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
FlightPlan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
PreparingforYourMaidenFlight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
10/Safe and Responsible Flight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
AboveAllIsSafety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
TrainingandEducation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
ImportantLinks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
KeyFlightSafetyRules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
First-PersonView. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
WhereandWhentoFly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
PreflightChecklistandFlightLogInformation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
AircraftInspection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
FlightandMaintenanceLogs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
LawsandRegulations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
11/Real-World Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
BeneficialDrones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
AerialPhotography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
MappingandSurveying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
PrecisionAgriculture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
SearchandRescue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
InfrastructureInspection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Conservation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
12/Expanding Your Drone’s Abilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
AddaCameraandFirst-PersonView. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
CollectMoreDatawithOtherSensors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
AlteringSpeedReadySetRace!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
IncreasingFlightTimes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
TroubleshootingintheDroneCommunity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
ThankYou!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
vi Contents

Preface
We are Belinda and Terry Kilby. We are drone enthusiasts, aerial
photographers, makers, trainers, and a husband–wife team. By
combining lives, we also combined our strengths and passions
for technology and art. Since 2010, we have been designing and
building small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for artistic and
practical aerial photography through our company, Elevated
Element. As early adopters, we became the unocial spokes-
people for UAV technology for the media in our region. We keep
up with the advancements in hardware, software, and drone
news stories, so we can represent drone builders and users in an
artistic and innovative light.
The First Book of Its Kind
In the fall of 2013, we released Drone Art: Baltimore, the first
photo book shot entirely using small, custom-built UAVs. The
introduction describes how we got started and how our equip-
ment and work evolved. The images are presented in chronolog-
ical order to show progression in quality, as we came to under-
stand how to build, fly, and take photographs with these drones.
The book launch, which we arranged through Baltimore’s Oce
of Promotions and the Arts, was held at an exhibition at the Bal-
timore World Trade Center, on the observation deck called “Top
of the World.” The location was perfect, because the perspective
looking out of the windows from the 27th floor was much like
the subject matter seen in our work: the bird’s-eye view.
The Book’s Goal
Our objective for this book is to give you that same working
knowledge of aerial robotics, by showing you how to build a Lit-
tle Dipper 300-class autonomous quadcopter as an example.
By reading and following the steps and advice contained in this
book, you’ll learn how quadcopters work and how to solve some
vii

of the engineering challenges a quadcopter presents. Where
applicable, we will also suggest alternative options you can try,
or comparable parts to suit your own preferences. Whether you
choose to build a quadcopter or an octocopter, the same con-
cepts will apply.
The Little Dipper design is open source, and the design files can
be downloaded from http://gettingstartedwithdrones.com/little-
dipper-build/. Alternatively, you can order a complete Little Dip-
per kit, with all the hardware, from www.MakerShed.com.
And don’t worry about failure. Everyone makes mistakes. It’s
only important that we continue to try, do, and make. Aerial
robotics is a hands-on experience, in which you solve real-world
problems through trial and error, and ultimately, hard-won wis-
dom. The smallest dierence in weight distribution or speed can
mean success or disaster.
How to Use This Book
Each chapter of this book is designed to cover a specific portion
of the overall technology of unmanned aircraft. One chapter
covers the intricacies of dierent airframe types, while another
dives into how the Global Positioning System (GPS) is used to
assist flight. We made a conscious eort to touch on as many
topics as we could, but keep in mind that this is a Getting
Started with book, not the be-all-and-end-all encyclopedia of
UAVs. If you are a newcomer to this technology, there will be
plenty of meat here for you to chew on. If you are already famil-
iar with drones, we are sure there will still be some important
nuggets of info that you can add to your knowledge base.
Once you get past Chapter 1, you should start to see an impor-
tant pattern emerge: most chapters are broken down into a
section for background and theory followed by step-by-step
instructions for our build example. No matter if you are building
the same aircraft we show throughout the book, the theory por-
tion of each chapter will apply to almost any type of drone—
from a small 250-class quadcopter to a huge 1,000-class octo-
copter. If you are not following along with our demo build, feel
free to skip over the build instructions and consume as much of
the theory as you can.
viii Preface

Whether you are a seasoned drone pilot or just getting into the
hobby, we think that everyone can benefit from the theory por-
tions of each chapter. We do recommend that you read each of
them. If you are also following along with the example build, feel
free to either build as you go or read through all the theory first
before finally coming back and starting on the build. A thorough
understanding of the technology involved can only help you
when it comes time to build your aircraft.
Conventions Used in This Book
The following typographical conventions are used in this book:
Italic
Indicates new terms, URLs, and email addresses.
This element signifies a general note, tip or sugges-
tion.
This element indicates a warning or caution.
Safari® Books Online
Safari Books Online is an on-demand digital library that delivers
expert content in both book and video form from the world’s
leading authors in technology and business.
Technology professionals, software developers, web designers,
and business and creative professionals use Safari Books Online
as their primary resource for research, problem solving, learn-
ing, and certification training.
Safari Books Online oers a range of plans and pricing for enter-
prise, government, education, and individuals.
Members have access to thousands of books, training videos,
and prepublication manuscripts in one fully searchable data-
base from publishers like Maker Media, O’Reilly Media, Prentice
Preface ix

Hall Professional, Addison-Wesley Professional, Microsoft Press,
Sams, Que, Peachpit Press, Focal Press, Cisco Press, John Wiley
& Sons, Syngress, Morgan Kaufmann, IBM Redbooks, Packt,
Adobe Press, FT Press, Apress, Manning, New Riders, McGraw-
Hill, Jones & Bartlett, Course Technology, and hundreds more.
For more information about Safari Books Online, please visit us
online.
How to Contact Us
Please address comments and questions concerning this book
to the publisher:
Make:
1160 Battery Street East, Suite 125
San Francisco, CA 94111
877-306-6253 (in the United States or Canada)
707-639-1355 (international or local)
We have a web page for this book, where we list errata, exam-
ples, and any additional information. You can access this page at
http://bit.ly/gs_w_drones.
To comment or ask technical questions about this book, send
email to [e-mail].
x Preface

1/Introduction
Some Definitions
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware
that the word drone is frequently in the news. The many head-
lines about drones have used the term to describe a wide range
of aircraft—from small remotely piloted toys, to autonomous fly-
ing robots, to full-scale weaponized military surveillance mod-
els. This is mainly because dierent sources have had dierent
definitions of the word drone. Where exactly is the line drawn, or
what makes a drone a drone? Let’s start with a basic definition.
Merriam-Webster’s definition of drone is:
an unmanned aircraft or ship guided by remote
control or onboard computers
This definition presents a very broad sense of the word, which
contributes to the overgeneralizations and misinformation we
see when the media reports on a particular type of unmanned
aircraft. Let’s be more specific. Terry says he draws the line
between radio-controlled (RC) aircraft and drones at the intro-
duction of GPS and autopilots. When an aircraft has the ability
to pilot itself, even if it’s just to hold a steady position, that in his
eyes is a drone. Throughout this book, we’ll use the following
conventions:
Drone
Unmanned aerial vehicle controlled autonomously using
GPS
Remotely piloted aircraft (RPA)
Model aircraft flown by a pilot on the ground using a radio
transmitter or other computer equipment
UAV
Aircraft that can be flown remotely by a pilot or controlled
autonomously using computer software and GPS
1

Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS)
All related processes involved with unmanned aerial
technology
Whether we like it or not, the word drone will continue to be
used in a sweeping fashion. We are embracing the word and are
aiming to help change the negative connotations, by showing
the beneficial applications of small UAV technology. With that in
mind, we need to increase our own understanding to navigate
the media frenzy that is drone-mania. While the US Federal Avi-
ation Administration is trying to settle on comprehensive small
UAV commercial use policy, we all need to take our aerial pur-
suits as responsibly and safely as possible.
Who Is This Book For?
This book is a set of instructions (with additional suggestions
along the way) for how to build an autonomous quadcopter. A
general understanding of robotics and electronics concepts are
a real advantage in pursuing aerial robotics. It also helps to be
familiar with basic tools and equipment, including a soldering
iron, to have long-term success in designing your own small
UAVs.
If you’re a maker who enjoys persevering through trial-and-error
problem solving while you’re building something, then you’ll
enjoy aerial robotics. Being able to build a flying robot, and view
scenes from completely new perspectives, is well worth the time
and eort.
The Drone User Community
Sometimes the way to success when you have a problem is
knowing the right questions to ask others. Networking with peo-
ple who share an interest in aerial robotics is an invaluable
resource for helping to pinpoint issues and finding solutions.
Online forums are a wonderful way to see how others solve simi-
lar problems. One site that has been a favorite of Terry’s is Multi-
RotorForums.com. People on that forum have been incredibly
generous in sharing their experience and insights in building and
flying small UAVs.
2 Make: Getting Started with Drones

There may also be an organized group of UAV enthusiasts or a
model airplane club local to you, either of which would probably
appreciate seeing a fresh face at a meeting. Try searching
Meetup.com for drone (there’s that word again!) user groups.
Another place to look is the Academy of Model Aeronautics. The
AMA is the world’s largest model aviation association and has
been around since 1936. We have a great group of folks here in
the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., area who have contributed
greatly to sharing UAV technology in our region. We truly appre-
ciate everyone who has helped us maintain this wild endeavor.
There may also be an organized group of UAV enthusiasts or a
model airplane club local to you, either of which would probably
appreciate seeing a fresh face at a meeting. Try searching
Meetup.com for drone (there’s that word again!) user groups.
Another place to look is the Academy of Model Aeronautics. The
AMA is the world’s largest model aviation association and has
been around since 1936. We have a great group of folks here in
the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area who have contributed
greatly to sharing UAV technology in our region. We truly appre-
ciate everyone who has helped us maintain this wild endeavor.
The AMA has a great PDF of best practice guidelines
for safe and responsible flight.
Brief History of Autonomous Flight
The top inventions that we believe have contributed most to
drone technology include the RC model airplane, microchips,
GPS, the Internet, and the smartphone. Let’s take a look.
RC Model Airplane
In 1937, Ross Hull and Clinton DeSoto, ocers of the American
Radio Relay League, performed the first public demonstration of
remote-controlled flights. In the summer and fall of 1937, they
designed and built sailplanes with a 13-foot wingspan, complet-
ing over 100 successful radio-controlled flights in Hartford, Con-
necticut. During this era, Hull set the pace for homebrew radio
Introduction 3

apparatus design. He increased transmitter eciency by short-
ening the leads and was the first to describe the much lighter,
one-tube on-board receiver for model aircraft. Twin brothers
Walter and William Good won first place titles in 1940 and 1947
at the US National Aeromodeling Championships. Their iconic
RC model airplane, known as the Gu, is now owned by the
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (see Figure 1-1).
Figure 1-1. The Good brothers’ RC airplane, the Gu.
The Advent of Microchips
In the summer of 1958, Jack Kilby—a new employee at Texas
Instruments and young inventor at the time—revolutionized the
electronics industry with the introduction of his integrated cir-
cuit. This precursor to the microchip consisted of a transistor
and other components on a thin piece of germanium 7/16 ×
1/16 inches in size. Knowing that many electronic components,
like passive resistors and capacitors, could be made from the
same material as the active transistors, Kilby realized they could
also be made into configurations to form a complete circuit.
Many electronics we use now would not be possible without Kil-
by’s tiny chip. It transformed room-sized computers into the
microcomputers sold today.
4 Make: Getting Started with Drones

The Technology of Drones
At a certain point, model aeronautics reached the maximum
height that hardware design, radio signals, and electronic pulses
could take it. To go beyond would require the implementation of
less tangible technologies that would enable intelligent commu-
nication and control.
The Launch of GPS
The ocial GPS.gov site describes GPS as follows:
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S.-
owned utility that provides users with position-
ing, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. This
system consists of three segments: the space
segment, the control segment, and the user
segment. The U.S. Air Force develops, main-
tains, and operates the space and control seg-
ments.
The system’s 36 satellites constantly broadcast a stream of
time-code and geographical data to users on the ground. Any
device with a GPS receiver can use data from any four satellites
to calculate its location in relation to those satellites. Maintain-
ing a clear line of site with the GPS satellites is key, and accu-
racy is improved as you connect to more than the minimum of
four. Due to the line-of-site requirement, it can sometimes be
dicult to obtain a reliable GPS lock indoors. We will discuss
how this aects flying a drone indoors in Chapter 5.
More GPS Information
For additional details, see the following pages from
GPS.gov:
•“How GPS Works”
•“GPS Applications”
Introduction 5

Internet
The personal, civilian drone boom would not be where it is today
without the Internet. Online shops, social media, and forums
enable people to instantly share and learn with people anywhere
in the world. Terry got through his initial quadcopter builds by
observing other people’s designs and asking questions online.
The more intelligent the UAV, the more of a role the Internet will
play in future drone applications.
The Smartphone
With the ability to dramatically shrink the size of computer pro-
cessors and sensors, it was only a matter of time before some-
one had the idea to use a smartphone’s insides on a model air-
craft. When you turn or rotate your smartphone, the orientation
of the interface changes direction; the same sensors could be
used to control a small drone. As a mobile software engineer,
Terry was familiar with developing mobile apps and the capabili-
ties of smartphone operating systems. Currently, he is working
on a number of dierent applications in the drone mapping
space.
Small Autopilot Flight Controller
All these things—GPS, the Internet, and the smartphone—have
led to the flight controller, essentially the brain of the drone.
Civilian autopilots started showing up on hobbyist multicopters
around the late 2000s. Early GPS-capable units were available
from the German company MikroKopter, and then several Chi-
nese companies copied them. Around that same time, several
open source projects started up, such as MultiWii, Ardupilot,
and Open Pilot. MultiWii took its name from the interesting fact
that the first units were made with sensors hacked from a Nin-
tendo Wii controller. Ardupilot, as you can probably guess, was
so called because it was originally Arduino based.
Today, the small autopilots have came a long way, and many
include advanced features such as autonomous flight, Return to
Home, and Follow Me. Many of these features were only avail-
able on top-of-the-line models just a few years ago, but that
goes to show you how fast this technology is evolving.
6 Make: Getting Started with Drones

Small Autopilot Sensors Needed for
Flight Control
The following sensors, while not brand new, have finally become
small and light enough to allow their use in UAV autopilots:
Magnetometer
Digital compass
Gyroscope
Measures rates of rotation
Accelerometer
Measures gravity
Pressure sensor
Calculates altitude, by measuring atmospheric pressure
Combined, these sensors create an Inertial Measurement Unit
(IMU).
Principles of Flight
The mechanics of flight consist of some simple rules with com-
plex interactions. To understand them well, it wouldn’t hurt to
spend some time brushing up on Newton’s laws of physics.
When we talk about a force, what we mean is a simple push or
pull. If the forces working on an object are balanced—a push in
one direction met by an equal push in the opposite direction—
the object is stationary. If the forces are not balanced, the object
accelerates in the direction of the stronger force.
Weight/Gravity
Weight is the force on an object caused by gravity. The principle
of force is also sometimes called gravity. For something to fly, or
even hover, it must somehow continuously balance or overcome
the force of gravity (we’ll see how it does that in a moment).
Gravity is relentless—even a momentary loss of the opposing
force can bring the aircraft crashing to earth. One interesting
note about gravity we’ll be dealing with throughout the book:
Introduction 7

although weight is distributed throughout the aircraft, one point
in the aircraft—called the center of gravity—has the most eect
on its ability to fly.
Lift
Lift, the opposite of weight, is an aerodynamic force that keeps
an aircraft in the air (see Figure 1-2). In the case of winged air-
craft, lift comes from air moving across an airfoil shape of a wing
or propeller. The air moving above the airfoil is moving faster;
therefore, it has lower pressure. Slower-moving air below the
wing has higher pressure. Thanks to the lower pressure above
the wing, an airplane or helicopter is literally sucked into the sky.
To hover or fly level, lift must equal weight; to climb, lift must be
greater than weight.
Figure 1-2. As the airfoil form moves forward through the air, it
produces lift.
Drag
Have you ever stuck your hand out the window of a moving car
on a nice day? The force you felt pushing back is a perfect
example of drag. Any object that moves through the atmos-
phere at any speed will experience some level of drag, and it
increases with the speed of the object. Drag is the reason air-
planes, locomotives, and sports cars have smooth, sleek lines—
that type of streamlining allows air to flow more cleanly around
the vehicle, cutting down on drag and making the vehicle more
ecient. Drag is also the reason jets retract their landing gear
right after takeo, and it can be a potent force for quadcopters/
drones.
8 Make: Getting Started with Drones