Competition | 2023-2024 Aerial Evolution of Canada Student Competition | ||||||
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Team | Waterloo Aerial Robotics Group | ||||||
Technical Director | |||||||
Version | Document Version
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On this page |
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If you are editing this document, please do your best to add in the changes made into the changelog and ID the version that you are onremember to update the changelog and modify the version ID (found in the table at the top of the page).
This document will be considered controlled following from October 1st onwards. Any changes after that point must follow the formal RFC process. Ping Anthony Luo for more details.
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Please make your RFC using the following link: tbd 2024 Request(s) for Change(s) |
Supporting Document
🗂 References and documentation
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List of mechanical-maintained standards:
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List of electrical-maintained standards:
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List of autonomy-maintained standards:
List of embedded flight software maintained standards: |
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Airframe | |||||||||||||||||||
Part Function | Manufacturer | Part Name & Link | Qty | Notes | |||||||||||||||
Propulsion | |||||||||||||||||||
Part Function | Manufacturer | Part Name & Link | Qty | Notes | |||||||||||||||
Propellers | T-Motor | MF2211 | 4 Indiv 2 CW 2 CCW |
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Motors | T-Motor | Antigravity MN6007II | 4 Indiv | See Motor Selection Subpage | |||||||||||||||
ESC | Advanced Power Drives [APD] | 120F3[X]v2 | 4 |
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Power Distribution | |||||||||||||||||||
Part Function | Manufacturer | Part Name & Link | Qty | Notes | |||||||||||||||
Batteries | Turnigy | Heavy Duty 5000mAh 6s 60C LiPo Pack w/XT90 | 4-6 | | Expand | | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | 5000mAh (current batteries) to be supported until competition cycle testing. 6200mAh batteries to be used for competition. | |||||||||||||||||
PDB | Advanced Power Drives [APD] | PDB500[X] | 1 |
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Power Monitor | Holybro | Holybro PM02D High Voltage | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
BEC | Mateksys | BEC12s-Pro | 1-2 |
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Flight Control System | |||||||||||||||||||
Part Function | Manufacturer | Part Name & Link | Qty | Notes | |||||||||||||||
Autopilot | Holybro | Pixhawk 5/6x + SD Card (logging) | 1 |
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GPS | Holybro | Holybro M9/10N GPS | 1 Prim 1 Sec |
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Unknown | Future RTK system |
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Rangefinder 🔍 | Benewake | TFMINI-S Micro LIDAR Module I2C | 1+ |
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Optical Flow Sensor (OFS) 🔍 | CubePilot | HereFlow | 1 |
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Compass 📉 | |||||||||||||||||||
Barometer 📉 | |||||||||||||||||||
Autonomy computer | NVIDIA Connect Tech | Jetson TX2i with Quasar carrier | 1 | Is not mounted on the drone. Alternatively: Any computer that supports real time image inference at the required rate. | |||||||||||||||
Raspberry Pi | Raspberry Pi Model 4b | 1 | Mounted on the drone. | ||||||||||||||||
Omnidirectional Lidar | Lightware | SF 45/B | |||||||||||||||||
RF + Peripherals (grouped because it’s small bits of things) | |||||||||||||||||||
Part Function | Manufacturer | Part Name & Link | Qty | Notes | |||||||||||||||
Control Link | TBD | HappyModel | EP1 TCXO Dual | 1 | 1 ELRS Diversity RX | 1 | 1 of eitherAirside run in gemini mode. Gemini PCB as an option in case higher telemetry power is needed. | ||||||||||||
WARG | ELRS Gemini | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
Telemetry Link | 1 | 1 of EitherPotentially double up 4 redundancyLTE Hat RFD900x made available as an option in case of LTE failures. Not intended to be mounted on the primary system. | |||||||||||||||||
Abra Electronics | LTE Hat | ||||||||||||||||||
RF Design | RFD900x | ||||||||||||||||||
Video Transmitter | MateksysFlyWoo | VTX 1G3SE-1G3
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Mateksys | VTX 1G3SE |
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Foxeer | 1.2G 5W (Enhanced) 4ch | ||||||||||||||||||
FPV Cameras | Caddx | Baby Ratel 2 | 2 or 3 | Number dep. on pilot pref. TBD | |||||||||||||||
OSD | Holybro | Holybro Micro OSD V2 | 1 |
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Video Mux | Lumenier | 3-Way Multi Camera Video Switcher Board | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
Lighting 🔍 | - | - | NAVLights | ||||||||||||||||
- | - | Landing Lights | |||||||||||||||||
CV Camera | Hupuu | $200 CV Camera | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
Groundside | |||||||||||||||||||
Part Function | Manufacturer | Part Name & Link | Qty | Notes | |||||||||||||||
Ground station computer | Lenovo | Thinkpad T490 | 1 | Alternatively: Any computer that can run Mission Planner. | |||||||||||||||
1.3G Video RX | FlyWoo | DRX-12A | 1 | Prefer this | |||||||||||||||
ReadyMade RC | 900-1.3 GHz Receiver w/Tuner | 1 | 5.Available as a backup. | ||||||||||||||||
5.8G Video relay (TX) | AKK | TS832 5.8 GHz VTX | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
RC Control Link | WARG | ELRS Gemini | 1 | PREF GEMINI WHEN POSSIBLE | |||||||||||||||
RadioMaster | RadioMaster Ranger FCC | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
RC Control Link Relay | HappyModel | EP2 | 1 | see RF + Peripherals section later | |||||||||||||||
Telemetry Link | WARG | ELRS Gemini | 10 | Used with flow control RC + MAVLink simultaneously. RC Priority. Backup to LTE. | |||||||||||||||
RFDesign | RFD900x | 10 | Only used as a backup option. Not to be mounted regularly. | ||||||||||||||||
❓ | LTE Hotspot | 1 | No manufacturer | ||||||||||||||||
Telemetry Relay | Xbee | XBEE Pro 5.8 | 20 | Primary Telem relayBackup | |||||||||||||||
ELRS | ELRS AirportBackup. Not to be mounted normally. | 2 | Primary | ||||||||||||||||
FPV Goggles | - | Pilot Preference | |||||||||||||||||
RC Controller | RadioMaster | TX16s MkII ELRS Mode 2 HALL | 2 |
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Video Monitor | - | Generic 5.8 GHz Receiver | |||||||||||||||||
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Min | Recc/Avg | Max | |
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Propeller Diameter (in) | 20 | 22 | 24 |
Battery Voltage (v) | 36 | - | 50.4 |
Takeoff Weight | 4.5 | < | 8 |
Thrust (kg) | ~16 | ||
Flight time (min) | 30 | TBD (40?) | |
Wind Lim. (kt) | < 20 | TBD (< 60) | |
Altitude (m) | < 120 | 200 | |
Horizontal Pos Accuracy (cm) | +/- 2 | +/-30 | +/- 200 |
Vertical Pos Accuracy (cm) | +/- 2 | +/- 15 | +/- 30 |
Usable Range (km) | 1 | 10 | inf w/LTE |
Airframe
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Pegasus is an X-frame configuration and motor arms attached directly to a straight aluminum block. Here are some of the key notes:
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Most components will run ~ 20-30 degrees hotter than ambient, and will thermal limit around 80 degrees celcius. This means that on an average “warm” day, our components have around 20-30 degrees of headroom. Think about how much hotter a cabin may cause components to be, especially if black carbon fiber and in the air (exposed, not under shade).
Propulsion
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Electrical, please insert a schematic & layout diagram with motors, connectors, esc’s with breaks to the rest of the HV distribution system |
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Anti-spark XT90s need to be used for our battery connections. Anti-Spark Connector Standards
Power Distribution
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On Pegasus, “power distribution” refers to all elements that affect and interact with power before it is distributed to individual components. Typically, this includes:
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DShot is only available on FMU out as of 4.4.0, but will be available (tentatively), on certain I/O FMU Outputs in the future.
Flight Control System
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Pegasus will operate using an ardupilot software stack. As of Fall 2023 Pegasus runs software revision 4.4.0, as this brings necessary changes for digital power monitoring and bidirectional dshot.
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All PWM outputs will be attached to the I/O pins.
USB
Usb port will be connected to the RPI for LTE Telemetry
Telem 1,2,3
Telem1 will be reserved for the RFD900the RFD900x (should it be needed)
Telem1 is the only port that is rated for 1.5A
Telem2 will be connected to the LTE systemLightware SF45B
Telem3 will be connected to ELRS Diversity RX / Gemini RX (EP1 TCXO Dual)
GPS 1, 2
GPS1 - GPS1 (front)
GPS2 - GPS2 (back)
I2C
I2C will be sent to the lidarrangefinder (downwards facing)
CAN1, 2
CAN1 will be connected to the OFS
CAN2 will be reserved for CAN interface boards (should they be required)
Serial/UART 4
Reserved for Omnidirectional rangefinderfurther comms w/the rpi if necessary
Power 1, 2
Power1 will be connected to the Holybro PM02D
Power2 will be connected to a BEC
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Ground station is at the cruise scope, for multiple waypoints, and is responsible for guiding the drone along the most efficient waypoint to waypoint path. Control is handled by the pathing system and Mission Planner running on the ground station computer.
RF + Peripherals
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There are a number of external devices on the drone. Autonomy is largely responsible for additional compute, while Electrical is largely responsible for RF
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Pegasus will support 2.4+900+433 interchangeable control links, as well as LTE+piggybacked telemetry, and dedicated 2.4 or 900 telemetry systems. Pegasus will use 1.3 ghz as the primary airside video frequency.
Antenna Choice
2.4ghz antennas will be regular dipoles, potentially folded dipoles. and 5.8 video systems shall be supported. The primary distribution:
900mhz RFD900x or ELRS Airport - Backup telemetry. Not mounted typically but possible addition in case of poor LTE coverage.
2.4 ghz ELRS Gemini control link - Primary control link, carrying MAVLink info air->ground as well as typical control link ground->air
1.3 ghz video link - Primary pilot video link
LTE Telemetry + Video streaming - Primary telemetry link, primary computer vision video link.
Antenna Choice
2.4ghz antennas will be regular dipoles, potentially folded dipoles. Refer to https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G2Ue9xrBFwbJbkzpw3Gx3-eZ3x3dWSVjVrP4fPepvcg/edit#gid=0 for the best selection.
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< EE TO ENTER MORE INFORMATION ABOUT RF STUFF >
Control Link
GEMINI GO BRR
Telemetry Link
Telemetry will be provided through LTE, with ELRS gemini allowing MAVLink packets to be piggy-backed in between regular The airside control link will be an ELRS Diversity (true diversity) receiver wired into a telemetry port on the autopilot. This receiver will be flashed with gemini firmware, and paired with WARG’s gemini transmitters on the groundside.
The groundside control link will involve a TX16 paired with a small EP1 or EP2 receiver, which will be wired directly to the gemini transmitter. The EP2 receiver baud rate will be modified to match the gemini spec?
Telemetry Link
Telemetry will be provided through LTE, with ELRS gemini allowing MAVLink packets to be piggy-backed in between regular RC link packets. This gives us a second redundant option in case the LTE system loses power or is otherwise unusable, at least temporarily and for long enough to recover the drone.
Video System
1.3 go brrr. System unchanged from previous year: 1 forward facing camera and 1 downward facing cameraThere are no current plans to forrward MAVLink out from the TX16 - yappu scripts may be run in order to assert basic RTL functionality in the event of a lost LTE link.
Video System
There will be at least 1 forward facing and 1 downward facing camera. There may be a third camera installed at the pilots discretion.
The entire pilot video system uses Analog video, including:
2 Caddx baby Ratel 2 cameras (or cameras of similar size)
1 PWM-based video mux
1 OSD using ardupilot telemetry
1 1.3ghz video transmitter, either 5W or 800mW depending on application.
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Electrical team to insert schematic of Video transmission system including:
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The video transmitter will generate a lot of heat, and consideration must be made such that there is adequate thermal capacity (i.e: heatsink) on the video transmitter, and there must be passive airflow over the VTX while in flight. This may be achieved through the use of NACA ducts, large surface area heatsinks, or open-air components.but comes with a heat sink. The video transmitter will also mount to a standard 30x30 pattern (fpv standard).
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although it may be possible to test using open-air, highly recommend having a solution that allows for airflow through a series of ducting/gating/filtering that will help to reduce water ingest |
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It is possible to use other digital video transmission systems should the LTE system latency (~ 100ms) be too high. See Digital Video Transmission Systems - SysInt - WARG (atlassian.net) for more info.
Open Questions
PIKACHU OBLIGATORY PIKACHU
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ok thank you for listening
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Ground Systems
Our ground systems will consist of 2 primary tracking towers (Control + Video links), and one potential backup tower for Telemetry link.
All tracking antennas will consist of the same control scheme, using an arduino, neo m.8 gps, and bmx160 IMU. They will receive forwarded communication from the ground station computer, and will operate autonomously.
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Control Link
Control will feature a small relay to allow for a fully wireless tracking antenna. Wireless SBUS trainer will be provided to the groundside TX16s, meaning that there are the following links:
TX16 (secondary) → EP2 (inside controller primary)
TX16 (primary) EP2 -(wired)-> Serial port 1
TX16(primary) → EP2 (tracking antenna)
EP2 (tracking antenna) -(wired)-> Gemini (tracking antenna)
Gemini → Diversity RX (airside)
Diversity RX -(wired)-> Autopilot
Gemini
The Gemini is supplied with 5V power from the tracking antenna PCB. The Gemini antennas that will transmit to the drone are clipped directly onto the two red TX modules on the PCB. It is directly wired to the TX16 controller to receive the command data over UART.
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Do not power the Gemini PCB without the Gemini antennas connected to the TX modules. Doing so can result in the TX modules becoming damaged. |
The Gemini board draws an absolute maximum of 2.26A. During typical operation with both transmitters working it should draw somewhere around 1.2A ~ 1.5A.
A wiring diagram of the Gemini board in standard operation is shown below.
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An RGB LED on the PCB display’s the Gemini’s current status. The different statuses are described in the following table (taken from ELRS Wiki).
LED Indication | Status |
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Rainbow fade effect | Starting up |
Green heartbeat | Web update mode enabled |
Blue heartbeat | Bluetooth joystick enabled |
Red flashing on/off every 100ms | Radio chip not detected |
Orange flash every second | No handset connection |
Solid single colour | Connected to receiver, colour indicates packet rate |
Fading single colour | No connection to receiver, colour indicates packet rate |
The Gemini PCB runs ExpressLRS code from the ELRS GitHub. Updating the code to a different version can be done over WiFi or USB. For details, see ELRS Gemini TX - Programming the Gemini TX.
Video Link
Video will be run on 1.3. A diversity (!!!) video receiver will be connected to an omnidirectional antenna as well as a patch antenna. The output will be wired to a 5.8GHz video transmitter, which will re-broadcast the analog video signal to further groundside devices (goggles, displays, etc).
Open Questions
PIKACHU OBLIGATORY PIKACHU
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ok thank you for listening
Change Log
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