Make an Open Source Drone

A fun project in which you learn about drones by making one. Use the Pixhawk or Multiwii AIO flight controllers

4.65 (1456 reviews)
Udemy
platform
English
language
Hardware
category
10,368
students
11.5 hours
content
Aug 2023
last update
$84.99
regular price

What you will learn

Understand the different types of multi-rotor drones.

Understand flight terminology.

Understand the principles of drone flight.

Understand the roles of propellers, motors, flight controller, ESC in drone flight.

Understand the use of LiPo batteries and their use.

Understand the use of GPS in drone flight.

Understand how to bind a radio receiver and transmitter.

Understand the necessary drone pre-flight checks.

Understand the basic safety and legal requirements involved in recreational drone flight.

Assemble a quadcopter from parts available in the market.

Upload the MultiPirateNG firmware to the Crius V2 flight controller.

Use the open source Mission Planner software to configure a drone.

Practice flying their quadcopter and fun while becoming better pilots!

Learn how to use the Pixhawk flight controller.

Description

PLEASE READ: In August 2023, I have updated the course with new lectures and a new flight controller. In the new lecture I show you how to upgrade your drone to use the popular MATEK F405TE flight controller. I have also added lectures about batteries and drone classifications. 

The MATEKSYS F405-TE is a perfect fit for our learning objectives. It's a minimalist yet powerful flight controller, making it an excellent device to explore.

Also, by transitioning to the MATEKSYS F405-TE, I can lower the overall cost of our drone without compromising its performance or capabilities. This will make our quadcopter design more accessible to hobbyists on a budget, which aligns with my mission to make drone technology more attainable and exciting for everyone.


Welcome to "Make an Open Source Drone", a course that will teach you how to build a quadcopter from scratch!

Playing with drones, and especially quadcopters, is fast becoming a very popular hobby. As a hobby, it combines state of the art open technology with large open spaces. It even gives me a great excuse to get out of my lab and get some sun!

While you can just go to a shop and purchase a drone that is ready to fly, by doing so you miss out on all the fun and knowledge that comes with building your own flying machine. I admit I have done that myself. Getting my ready-to-fly drone out of its box and flying it was fun, but only for a short period. 

Soon after the first excitement settled, I realised that I didn't know much more than before I opened the box. I was also unable to do anything more than what the drone was programmed to do, to begin with. 

That is why making your own open source drone is such a great way to have fun while learning. 

in this course, my co-instructor Aristofanis and I will help you understand drones and how to build them. You will learn about their mechanical and electronic components and how they interact. You will learn about the software that provides semi-autonomous flight capabilities to drones. 

Motors, flight controllers, Electronic Speed Controllers, batteries and chargers, receivers and transmitters, and so much more, will all make sense as you progress through this course and go through the process of assembling your drone. 

By the end of the course, apart from being able to assemble your drone, you will have the confidence to perform repairs and to extend its capabilities.

Along the way, you will learn about the principles of drones and many design and performance details for each of the components and software. With this knowledge, you will be able to go on and construct your own drones, configure and program them, all while having a great time doing so.

The course starts by explaining the basic principles of drones. 

You will learn about the types of multi-rotor drones, flight terminology, principles of drone flight, and we will introduce the basic drone components like propellers, motors, the flight controller and more.

Then, you will get into the actual construction of the drone. You will solder the Electronic Speed Controllers to the motors and assemble the drone arms.

You will then solder the ESCs and battery to the power distribution board, and start the assembly of the drone frame.

After that is the radio control subsystem. You will learn about the different types of signalling, connect the radio receiver to the flight controller, and connect the GPS module.

Next, you will learn about LiPo batteries and battery chargers, safety and maintenance. 

With a fully charged battery, you will continue with the firmware and software. You will learn about the MegaPirateNG firmware and how to upload it to your drone. 

You will learn how to bind your radio transmitter and receiver, and then how to calibrate your new quadcopter using the open source Mission Planner software.

As always, we save the best for last! At the end of the course, you will learn how to calibrate the Electronic Speed Controllers and attach the propellers.

And in the end, you will be able to take your drone to a field and launch it, starting to build-up your pilot skills!

As with all Tech Explorations courses, we are here to help you in this exciting learning journey. As a student of this course, you will have access to the Questions and Answers board and interact with the instructors. You can ask questions, and make comments or suggestions. 

Please continue by having a look at the list of parts that you will need in this course. You can find it as a document download in the next lecture

Content

Introduction

What is this course about
Parts and Tools
Crius or Pixhawk? Read this before you continue

Multi-copter drone basics

Introduction
Types of multi-rotor drones
Roll, pitch, yaw
Controlling the motors
Procuring the right parts
Terminology
Propellers
Battery and charger, Part 1
Battery and charger, Part 2
Flight controller and its peripherals
Other tools and things
Conclusion

ESC and motors

Introduction
Preparation
Attach the connectors to the ESC wires
Attach connectors to motor wires
Conclusion

Power distribution board assembly

Introduction
About the power distribution board
Solder the ESC power wires
Solder the battery wires and connectors
Conclusion

Main body assembly

Introduction
Attach the motors to the arms
Attach the arms to the power distribution board, Part 1
Attach the arms to the power distribution board, Part 2
Conclusion

Flight controller and peripherals

Introduction
The PWM and PPM signalling options, Part 1
The PWM and PPM signalling options, Part 2
Setup radio receiver and flight controller to use PWM
Connect the GPS module to the flight controller, Part 1
Connect the GPS module to the flight controller, Part 2
Connect the GPS module to the flight controller, Part 3
Connect the GPS module to the flight controller, Part 4
Attach flight controller to chassis
Connect ESCs to flight controller
Conclusion

Battery and charger

Introduction
How to charge the battery
Attach the battery to the frame
Conclusion

The firmware

Introduction
Clear the EEPROM
Download and install the firmware
Conclusion

The transmitter

Introduction
Binding receiver and transmitter
Understand the transmitter basic operations
Conclusion

Mission Planner

Introduction
Download and install Mission Planner
Mission Planner setup, Part 1
Mission Planner setup, Part 2
Test the GPS module
Conclusion

Getting ready to fly

Introduction
Calibrate the ESCs
Attach the propellers
Safety and legal issues
Conclusion

Test flight!

Introduction
Pre-flight checks
The first flight
Conclusion

An upgrade using the Pixhawk flight controller

800 - Section introduction
810 - Why upgrade- The Pixhawk flight controller
820 - Disassembly
830 - A review of the upgrade components
840a - Assembly Part 1 - Propellers
840b - Assembly Part 2 - ESC red wire insulation
840c - Assembly Part 3 - Pixhawk base
840d - Assembly Part 4 - GPS antenna
840e - Assembly Part 5 - Pixhawk assembly
840f - Assembly Part 6 - Buzzer, safety button, power module
840g - Assembly Part 7 - Wirings
840i - Battery and power connections
840h - Verify wiring in Mission Planner
850 - Attach the propellers
860 - Calibration and test flight

Conclusion

What's next?
Other educational content from Tech Explorations

Screenshots

Make an Open Source Drone - Screenshot_01Make an Open Source Drone - Screenshot_02Make an Open Source Drone - Screenshot_03Make an Open Source Drone - Screenshot_04

Reviews

Devon
September 4, 2023
Well there is some drawbacks in obtaining parts as to pricing so far but the theoretical side is ok so far.
Devgiri
August 31, 2023
It was good but I was interested more in mission planner settings part. I think that's more important part to be aware off like, there are parameters like WPNAV_SPEED and etc, which also needs to be considered.
Saravanan
July 13, 2023
The course was useful for the beginners and the step by step instructions were very useful to start my own drone assembly.
Ajay
June 20, 2023
Course was really good, additionally if Author could add lectures on how to mount Gimbal & Camera and PPK would have been even better. I really like the way he explained each and every minute details theoretically. Hope to see more.
Karnika
May 25, 2023
Very elaborately described. I am confident to build my drone after watching this tutorial. Choice of components, tricks of assembly, and reasons thereof have been explicitly explained by the instructor.
Jan-Georg
April 28, 2023
Very cool...I was new to the topic and now I have a deep understanding of what is it all about drones... ...Cool...
Olaf
April 26, 2023
I build a drone following this course 4 years ago. I like the detailed setup with the good quality video and easy to understand his voice. Very good hands-on course and good explanation of the needed theory to know at least the basic of what you have created. Not sure if lesson 80 with use Power Module is optimal, no response to questions in Q&A.
Lee
April 18, 2023
Had some difficulty getting some of the parts, particularly the flight controller. Then life got in the way several times which caused me to have to repeat some of the lectures to remind myself what had passed Now looking forward for first flight this weekend.
Charles
March 5, 2023
I really enjoy Dr. Damaris' straightforward, hands-on approach to teaching. The material, especially the update to use the Pixhawk is clear and concise as well as being well-explained.
Shivansh
February 23, 2023
They are not replying to the questions asked and its been a very long time since the course is updated and it defiantly needs an update
Hajee
October 26, 2022
Hi There ! Nice Lecture, some places need to be explain more clear like ( Calibration on ESC - FC ) hence most of error / assemble failure is happen on the Calibration section only. for me its ok. Great !!!
Golda
May 28, 2022
The drone chassis kit that I bought did not come with washers. It would have been nice to get a quick 5-10 minute tutorial on how to determine the washer size based on screws being used. Luckily for me, the kit came with an assembly manual that specified the exact size holes being used. Made it easier for me.
Andy
May 27, 2022
Think of this as a step-by-step tutorial on how Peter built his drone, and how you can use the same components to do the same, with some general background information about copters thrown in, and you'll love it. If you're hoping (as some of the people who have left less than 5 stars seem to have been) for guidance on choosing components with discussion of their relative merits, and/or building on a frame of your own design and manufacture, then you will be disappointed. Unfairly so in my opinion because the course description says: "A fun project in which you learn about drones by making one. Use the Pixhawk or Multiwii AIO flight controllers." And that's exactly what it is. I really enjoyed this course and have added a couple of Peter's other courses to my wish list for future purchase and study.
William
April 17, 2022
Really fits my expectation that I would start with making a simple, realiable drone in a affordable budget! I would like this course and the categroies of different videos are well organised. I would suggest to give a short video about the tips for good pilot skill. Thanks
Gautam
December 16, 2021
Almost all topic covered during this course but one topic skipped that is mission planner calibration with pixhawk.

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1319358
udemy ID
8/12/2017
course created date
11/22/2019
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