Engineering project / Summer 2026
Autonomous Drone
A 5-inch quadcopter project using ArduPilot to develop hands-on flight-systems experience.
We are developing the trainer ahead of a VTOL senior-design project. The work brings together hardware integration, power budgeting, flight control, radio communication, and GPS-based navigation.
The project and its documentation are in progress. My goal is to complete both by .
- Status
- In progress
- Collaboration
- A project in collaboration with Derin Aysan.
- Target
- September 30, 2026
- Reference
- Rev. B / May 2026
Project goals
The goals describe the work we are pursuing, not completed accomplishments.
- Build and integrate a quadcopter trainer to develop practical flight-systems experience for a future VTOL aircraft.
- Work toward GPS-guided waypoint flight using ArduPilot, supported by radio control and telemetry.
- Validate the electrical design and power budget against hardware measurements, and document the build, testing, and design decisions.
Technical overview
The proposed design follows our May 2026 electrical reference and may change as the build develops.
Planning estimates
Approximately 666 g all-up mass and roughly 7-9 minutes of flight time with reserve. These are estimates for the proposed configuration, not measured results, and need to be checked against the completed hardware.
- Flight control
- ArduPilot on a Matek H743-SLIM flight controller coordinates four motors through individual electronic speed controllers (ESCs).
- Power and propulsion
- A 4S 3000 mAh LiPo battery supplies a Matek PDB-XT60 power distribution board and four EMAX RS2205 2300KV motors with 5-inch propellers. The nominal battery voltage is 14.8 V.
- Radio control
- A RadioMaster Pocket transmitter communicates with a DeepSpace Nano ExpressLRS receiver over 2.4 GHz. The receiver connects to the flight controller using CRSF over UART.
- Navigation
- The reference specifies an HGLRC M100 Mini GPS using a u-blox M10 receiver. A compass/heading solution is an additional design requirement identified in the reference.
- Telemetry and regulated power
- An ESP32 running DroneBridge provides MAVLink telemetry over Wi-Fi to a ground laptop. The flight controller's 5 V regulator supplies the GPS and receiver; a separate 5 V regulator on the power distribution board supplies the ESP32 to keep its current spikes off the flight-controller rail.
Bill of materials
Provisional BOM based on the May 2026 electrical reference. Final selections may change.
Proposed component
Battery
Quantity: 1
4S 3000 mAh 60C LiPo, XT60 connector
Proposed component
Flight controller
Quantity: 1
Matek H743-SLIM
Proposed component
Electronic speed controllers
Quantity: 4
20 A single ESC, BLHeli S class; rating under review in the reference
Proposed component
Motors
Quantity: 4
EMAX RS2205 2300KV
Proposed component
Propellers
Quantity: 4
5-inch carbon-fibre propellers; final pitch to confirm
Proposed component
Power distribution
Quantity: 1
Matek PDB-XT60
Proposed component
RC receiver
Quantity: 1
DeepSpace Nano ELRS 2.4 GHz
Proposed component
RC transmitter
Quantity: 1
RadioMaster Pocket, ELRS; ground equipment
Proposed component
Telemetry
Quantity: 1
ESP32 with DroneBridge
Proposed component
GPS
Quantity: 1
HGLRC M100 Mini, u-blox M10; GPS-only reference selection
Proposed component
Airframe
Quantity: 1
5-inch frame; final model to be selected
Proposed component
Compass / heading reference
Quantity: 1
Solution to select: integrated GPS/compass or standalone compass
Assembly consumables such as wiring, connectors, hardware, and a battery strap are included in the reference's mass estimate but are not individually specified here.
Design questions from the reference
The May reference identifies three decisions to resolve and document as the design develops.
- ESC rating: The reference flags limited margin between the listed 20 A ESCs and the motors' potential current demand, and suggests considering 30 A ESCs.
- Heading reference: The listed GPS and flight controller do not include a compass. The reference proposes either a GPS module with an integrated compass or a standalone compass.
- Battery monitoring: The listed configuration has no current measurement. The reference discusses voltage-only monitoring, an inline current sensor, or ESC current telemetry as options to evaluate.
Contact
Have questions or an interest in the project? I'd be happy to hear from you.