Mini Project
The World of possibilities
Introduction
This is a trial for a personal creative project which reflects my passions and interests. I like science and innovation and thus chose a project which is close to my heart.
Human population continues to increase every year, and this makes the traffic get worse every day. It is tough for ground transportation, but that is not the main issue. Businessmen or women need products or items to be delivered to a company, and a delivery person must deliver it.
When a drone is provided with a servo mechanism/ container to hold a package it becomes a device for transportation that can carry a package or an important document to the company or the place that they want. My project is about a servo mechanism combined with a trap door to hold and release a package under an drone. Existing drone technology only needs to be adapted for this project to function. That is why I focus primarily on the holding mechanism. This will help reduce traffic due to the fact that people can transport it through air. Time will not be consumed in cars and it is beneficial for our environment. This solution can be applied to all the people who need to deliver an item but has a far bigger relevance and also affects many people indirectly.
It has huge social - cities become more liveable - and environmental - reduced pollution level - impact with global implications.
Research Plan
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Design Brief
I will focus on science and innovation in a global context. The choice was based on my passion on electrical engineering. My product will be combination of all three design concepts which are developed to extend the basic framework of existing products.
I will design a multirotor copter with a box underneath for storing uni sized packages during delivery. This research will focus on the design of the box. It will have sideway opening doors that are automatically controlled by two servo motors. It will be made out of metal to provide a secure and solid system.
I want to create this product to help lessen traffic. The reduction in traffic should also help the environment. Creating such a product will benefit my client as a traveler or business person. My product will be created with AutoCAD and then the pieces will be machined and assembled by hand. According to my research, the servos cost around 20 USD for two. The frame will cost around 30 USD with the two hinge trap doors. So in total will be about 55 USD with service fee. The design should be simple and reliable.
As for the materials, it can be made out of aluminium or titanium. Aluminium is for lower class client and titanium is for wealthy people. Aluminium and titanium are light weight. The weight is very important for a drone.
Design Specifications
- It must fit at least a 14 inches laptop - A 14 inches laptop size (34.5cm (Width) x 23.5cm (Depth)) is sufficient for a common package size
- It must have two servos controlling the opening of the storage - There needs to be an automatics opening and needs at least two servos to divide the work so it's has less work for the servo
- It must made out of aluminum or titanium with some rubber covering the top - It's a light weight metal and the rubber is for isolation
- It must have two small trap doors at the side of the storage for easy positioning - The torque is the main issue for trap door
- It must be compatible with a 17 inches propellers drone - I'm building it for a 17 inches propellers drone
- The elevation of the storage should be lower than the propellers - It will not affect the propeller's function if it's has lower elevation than the propellers
- The on board servos must have enough torque for 2.5kg item - This will let make the automatics trap door possible
- The frame of the storage must be at least 10 cm in height - It won't be too low for some item like textbook or lunch box
Design 1
Compare against design specifications
- It must fit at least a 14 inches laptop - Yes
- It must have two servos controlling the opening of the storage - Yes
- It must made out of aluminium with some rubber covering the top - Yes
- It must have two small trap doors at the side of the storage for easy positioning - Yes
- It must be compatible with a 17 inches propellers drone - Yes
- The elevation of the storage should be lower than the propellers - Yes
- The on board servos must have enough torque for 2.5kg item - Yes
- The frame of the storage must be at least 10 cm in height - Yes
Design 2
Check against design specifications
- It must fit at least a 14 inches laptop - No
- It must have two servos controlling the opening of the storage - Yes
- It must made out of aluminum with some rubber covering the top - Yes
- It must have two small trap doors at the side of the storage for easy positioning - Yes
- It must be compatible with a 17 inches propellers drone - Yes
- The elevation of the storage should be lower than the propellers - Yes
- The on board servos must have enough torque for 2.5kg item - Yes
- The frame of the storage must be at least 10 cm in height - Yes
Design 3
Check against design specifications
- It must fit at least a 14 inches laptop - No
- It must have two servos controlling the opening of the storage - Yes
- It must made out of aluminum with some rubber covering the top - Yes
- It must have two small trap doors at the side of the storage for easy positioning - Yes
- It must be compatible with a 17 inches propellers drone - Yes
- The elevation of the storage should be lower than the propellers - Yes
- The on board servos must have enough torque for 2.5kg item - Yes
- The frame of the storage must be at least 10 cm in height - Yes
Final design
Evaluate
All three designs are providing acceptable aerodynamics, but only one design is capable of utilizing the most aerodynamic capabilities. Design 3 is fully compatible with the drone design specifications that are required to create the best solution. Without optimized aerodynamics the flight abilities would be reduced and that would have side effects regarding maneuverability, energy consumption, safety and flight time.
None of the others design can storage a 14 inches laptop while maintaining optimal flight abilities. A drone loaded with a package will have more weight and it is of highest importance to guarantee the best in flight abilities and maximum reliability even under harsh weather conditions.
Detailed design of the drone
Detailed design of the storage unit
Length 32 cm
Width 30 cm
Height 10 cm
Tools
- Paper
- Pencil
- Laptop (AutoCAD)
- Craft man
- Metals (Aluminum)
- Metals cutting tools
Process
Step 1
Duration: 2 hours
Materials: AutoCAD Software, Laptop
Explanation: Making a cubic hole in a cube to create a space for the Arduino and the electrical components needed to power the drone
Step 2
Duration: 1 hour
Materials: AutoCAD Software, Laptop
Explanation: Moving the cylinder to the center of the cube to subtract and make a hole in the cube.
Step 3
Duration: 2 hours
Materials: AutoCAD Software, Laptop
Explanation: Making a hole in a cube to create a space for the antenna. Like all the previous design steps this step is quite time consuming because all the parts are interdependent and has to be planned well.
Step 4
Duration: 2 hours
Materials: AutoCAD Software, Laptop
Explanation: Frames design with application of the necessary changes to attach the box.
Step 5
Duration: 3 to 4 hours
Materials: AutoCAD Software, Laptop
Explanation: Subtract the box size from the original frame by creating an empty space.
Step 6
Duration: 60 minutes
Materials: AutoCAD Software, Laptop
Explanation: Aerodynamic unit to attach the landing gear
Step 7
Duration: 60 mins
Materials:AutoCAD Software, Laptop
Explanation: Design of the landing gear legs
Step 8
Duration: 90 minutes
Materials:AutoCAD Software, Laptop
Explanation:Find and adapt the right position of the landing gear to ensure maximum aerodynamic abilities while maintaining high stability.
Step 9
Duration: 2 hours
Materials: AutoCAD Software, Laptop
Explanation: Creating various other shapes to be added to the frame to ensure best flight abilities. all the units have to be connected at a later stage, so at this point there has to be a lot of thought spend on how that will be done.
Step 10
Duration: 2 hours
Materials: AutoCAD Software, Laptop
Explanation: Create the main frame parts by duplicating one unit with different angles of rotation/ orientation.
Step 11
Duration: 2 hours
Materials: AutoCAD Software, Laptop
Explanation: Combining all the parts in a test assembly, then marking the positions to drill holes for the final assembly. This is very important because a high precision both in of craftsmanship and planing is needed.
The design of the drone
Product
Changes made
- Changed the storage function - Make it more durable by making it push the plate out of the storage for the client. Their will be an automatics door that opens up for the plate to be pushed out.
- The whole project was changed - Instead of developing the storage, I'm developing full body frame for the drone. The metal craftsmen did not agree to my storage offer, they wanted the whole frame design so that they can make it all at once.
Project Examination Plan
- I will create a few question for the audience
- I will ask the audience, what's their opinion about the product
- I will let them comment on the product
- I will let them test the product with the design specifications that I created
- I will ask them about the beneficial of my product
- I will ask them if they would buy my product
Audiences respond against the design specifications
- It must fit at least a 14 inches laptop - Yes
- It must have two servos controlling the opening of the storage - Yes
- It must made out of aluminum with some rubber covering the top - Yes
- It must have two small trap doors at the side of the storage for easy positioning - Yes
- It must be compatible with a 17 inches propellers drone - Yes
- The elevation of the storage should be lower than the propellers - Yes
- The on board servos must have enough torque for 2.5kg item - Yes
- The frame of the storage must be at least 10 cm in height - Yes
Sengly:
- It must fit at least a 14 inches laptop - Yes
- It must have two servos controlling the opening of the storage - Yes
- It must made out of aluminum with some rubber covering the top - Yes
- It must have two small trap doors at the side of the storage for easy positioning - Yes
- It must be compatible with a 17 inches propellers drone - Yes
- The elevation of the storage should be lower than the propellers - Yes
- The on board servos must have enough torque for 2.5kg item - Yes
- The frame of the storage must be at least 10 cm in height - Yes
Dara:
- It must fit at least a 14 inches laptop - Yes
- It must have two servos controlling the opening of the storage - Yes
- It must made out of aluminum with some rubber covering the top - Yes
- It must have two small trap doors at the side of the storage for easy positioning - Yes
- It must be compatible with a 17 inches propellers drone - Yes
- The elevation of the storage should be lower than the propellers - Yes
- The on board servos must have enough torque for 2.5kg item - Yes
- The frame of the storage must be at least 10 cm in height - Yes
Audiences respond summarized
Cameron:
Your design is very aero dynamic. its very cool. I don't like how the blades are not protected. Overall, the design is good
Sengly:
I like the concept of using metal for the drone because it looks very professionally done.
Dara:
It looks symmetrical which makes the product appealing. The plane looks modern and technologically advanced.
Improvement
- Time management - I should have known that the craftsman will only work with larger order and not work on every piece individually. They are too lazy for small project that uses little amount of metal. I should have thought of it carefully before developing the concept of the project.
- I will chose a relevant project for time it was given to finish the project - So I do not have to build up tension in my brain.
- I should have blade protectors - I had the idea in my mind, but I didn't have enough time and it's very hard to make that shape.
Benefits from my product
There are various benefits from my product. First of all there are the obvious direct benefits I have mentioned already. Optimized means of logistics, reduced traffic, increased life quality and a positive environmental impact.
Secondly there are various indirect benefits from my product. The work on such a product and the field tests / the use in real life situations helps to gain experience for future projects. In this case the aerodynamics and load balancing abilities are of high importance.
I think in particular of projects like a hover board carrying a human over some distance.