DRONE SWARM (Version 2)
The purpose of this project is to design and build micro drones that can be manufactured easily and cheaply to form a swarm similar to the one made by Intel. The basic functionality of each drone involves following a predetermined flight path, communicating with the other drones or being controlled remotely from a base station. Each drone also includes an expansion port where a number of accessories can be attached. This means it can serve as an open source platform for all kinds of swarm projects.
This was the second iteration of the design, and the first one to be flight ready. By this time I had settled on a frame, motor driver and battery to use, so I designed the nonstandard shape of the board to fit around the other components. I designed and built two boards, ultimately discovering some important issues while testing them, that prompted a third version.
Some applications I have come up with include:
Light shows (like those done by Intel) - each drone has an LED
Search and Rescue - each drone has a simple thermal camera
An array of sensors spanning a large area in 3d space - each drone has a temperature / humidity / wind speed / etc. sensor
To the right is a log of the work I have done on this version.