Computer Controlled Programmable Drone is my final project for diploma.It is a project that control multiple mini drone to do some action without a human to control it. It can present some different action, such as rolling and pitching. Not only that, these drone also can use to form a lot of different shape , such as a shape or a word.  In this project , I have to write a set of programming code to control the drone. When is project is going on , it doesn't need a human to operate. When the power supply is on , the drone will start and do the performance follow the programming code , and finally the drone will land automatically. I use a arduino UNO to control the drone.In programming part , I use ARDUINO app to managed code for the drone.

Who am I ?

I am final semester of Electrical & Electronic Engineering students from Southern University College that are currently doing the mini drones project .Nowadays, although drone are commonly used in many ways , but most activities with drones still need a human to operate. So, i have an idea to make all the activities with drone using computer and programming code.

Aim

To make the drone doing some activities with computer and programming code without a human to operate.

Why I doing this project ?

Nowadays, drones are being developed for seemingly every job a human can do, but especially the ones too “dull, dirty or dangerous” for humans.

There are some ways drones are used for today, that is delivery, surveillance, agriculture and shooting video. For agriculture , drone applied to irrigation and farming in order to help increase crop production and monitor crop growth. Although it has many benefits, but it still needs a human to control it.

I do this project is to make the drone become fully automatic with programming code. If the agriculture drone is fully automatic , then the farmers no need to control the drone and he has more time to do other things.

Advantages of doing this project

The advantages of doing this project is to safeguarding people's safety and health. We can use a wonderful mini drone light show to replace firework display. Fireworks are explosive devices that contain combustible chemicals such as gunpowder and when eventually heated, these can create spectacular effects through the explosions.Firework shows have also been cancelled due to weather conditions, but the drone light show can present at either indoor or outdoor.

Not only that, if the light show with drone are fully automatic ,then human only need to focus on programming part and no need to operate them. The same light show with same programming code can be use in different place, it will be convenient for human.

Nowadays, drone light show is very rare and it is definitely attracts attention.It will make people feel freshness because the drone light show is full of technology.

How can this project benefit to public ?

1)A farmer in Xinjiang, named Yusen Shi used Drone to spray cotton fields with pesticide covering an area of more than 4,000 square kilometres.Farmers benefit significantly by replacing manual farming with drones that can cover 40 times the area a human would be able to spray in a single day.

Even though the drones can done the job more efficiency and high speed compare to human, but they still need a human to control. My project is to use programming code to control drone with computer, so if my project is using in this job ,the farmer no need to control the drone every time when spray the cotton fields.

2) Nowadays, most of the people have house security guard in their home area. But safety is still not enough. My project also can use to aid the guard to monitor surroundings.The drone with camera can use as a CCTV. Due to my project ,a set of programming code can be done to control the drone fly with a regular route. So, the drone with camera can patrol follow the route in every half hour.This can improve the safety for people who live in the area.

Potential Market

Potential market of this project is very large.For example, a company can use the mini drone light show when doing an event .When the project is going on,people will stop and have a look. Merchants can take the opportunity to promote and introduce their products. So this project is very suitable for advertising. For wedding, this project is a good choice for young people to make surprises to their other half. Not only that, when the mini drone light show is underway on a wedding dinner , this will make the wedding more perfect and it will also make newly-married couples and guests unforgettable. For tourism, we can use this light show as a performance in some tourist center such as A’famosa or Legoland , it will make people more satisfied with the journey .In addition, this show can also increase income for the resort.

Budget

Why crowdfunding?

For this project , I need crowdfunding because i need to buy these mini drones with better quality. Drones with better quality has sensor on it and it will more stable when flying.So, it is more expensive compare with others drones on Taobao & Lazada. I already buy 3 drones to start my project. But this place a financial burden on me. I still need some drones to complete my project. So , I really need your help to continue carry on the project.

1/9/2018 Start to do the project

Understand all the component on the circuit board. And the most important component is joystick (the place that the arrow indicate).

Start to solder wire on the board

Find out and realize the characteristics of joystick ( one of component on the circuit board).

The resistance of joystick.

RELAY also play an important role in this project.Relays are switches that open and close circuits electromechanically or electronically. Its control one electrical circuit by opening and closing contacts in another circuit.

In programming part , i use C programming language to write the code.First , i fnUp ,fnDown and S1. These 3 command is to pair with the drone. We must  pair with the drone then only we can control it. Second , S2 is use to command the drone to take off (fly). The next command is S1.This command is to stable the drone at a fixed altitude. And the next command is S2. This command use to land the drone on the floor.

This is the circuit that i use to control the mini drone.

This video show that i can use programming code with computer to control the mini drone to do some simple action. In the beginning of the video , I prove that there is  nobody around there to control the drone. When the power supply is on ,the programming code start to run.Then the drone will start to do the command that i write just now. I just need to turn on the power supply , then the drone will action follow the command. It doesn't need a human to operate ! It's all done with a computer !

Risks and challenges for this project is in programming part. It is difficult to write a programming code to control the mini drone. I will get some help from my lecturer when doing this project. I always need to pay attention to the condition of drone.It is because the propeller of drone is easy to broken, so i need to buy more propeller to prepared for accident.