Build Guide for Raspberry Pi Drone

Artifact for
Quantifying the Design-Space Tradeoffs in
Autonomous Drones
ASPLOS 2021

Ramyad Hadidi, Bahar Asgari, Sam Jijina, Adriana

Amyette, Nima Shoghi, and Hyesoon Kim

Georgia Tech

GNU AGPLv3

nd Hyesoon Kim]
Table of Contents:

Overall Components And Their Functions

Step 1: Soldering the bullet connectors onto the ESCs
Step 2: Soldering the ESCs to the distribution board and soldering battery connector to
board
Step 3: Attaching drone arms to bottom plate
Step 4: Installing motors onto the frame
Step 5: Install NAVIO2 HAT onto Raspberry Pi
Step 6: Install Pi+NAVIO2 onto the top plate
Step 7: Installing top plate to the drone
Step 8: Fixing ESCs to frame securely
Step 9: Bind Controller/Transceiver/Transmitter with the Receiver
Step 10: Calibrating the ESCs
Step 11: Checking motor spin direction
Step 12: Attach PPM encoder and RC receiver to the drone
Step 13: Connecting ESCs to the NAVIO2 HAT
Step 14: Attaching and connecting the telemetry module to the drone
 Step 15: Attaching Power module to drone
Step 15: Attaching landing gear (HIGHLY RECOMMEND)
Step 16: Building GPS mount and attaching GPS onto it
Step 17: Protecting the barometer from UV radiation (Very Important!)
Step 18: Attach Props
Step 19: Protect all electrical connections with electrical tape
Step 20: Attach charged battery with velcro strap

Drone Setup
Step 21: SSH to NAVIO2 to power source and run the emlidtool command shown
Step 22: Familiarize yourself with arducopter

Overall Components And Their Functions

Step 1: Soldering the bullet connectors onto the ESCs

Components used: bullet connectors (in box of motor), ESCs

Parts needed: solder iron, solder, helping hands (recommended)

Bullet Connectors
Solder

ESCs

Solder Iron

Helping Hands

Process:

Put a bullet connector into the helping hands. We are going to fill the side with the hole with
solder. See images:
Now, we are going to connect one of the “blue ends” of an ESC to the bullet connector. To do
this, heat up the connector with the solder iron and when the solder is melted, push the
connector inside and then let the solder solidify. Repeat this step for the remaining two “blue
ends” of the ESC. Then repeat all these steps for the other 3 ESCs. In the end, you should have
something looking like this:
 Step 2: Soldering the ESCs to the distribution board and soldering battery
connector to board

Parts needed: soldering iron and solder

Components: bottom plate of board, ESCs, and battery connector

Bottom Plate Battery Connector

Process:

We need to connect the positive ESC wire (red wire) to the

positive terminal on the board. The positive terminal has the +
sign on it. We connect the negative wire (black wire) to the
negative terminal on the PCB board. Please ensure your
orientation is correct (see image below labeled ‘Orientation’).
Basically, the logo on ESC should be faced down.

Note: The ESCs attach to the terminals which represent the X

configuration. The extra terminal (circled green) is where we
will attach the battery connector in a later stage.
Orientation

First Step
 Second Step

Now solder the battery connector to the board. Solder the positive (red) wire to the + terminal on
the board. Solder the negative (black) wire to the - terminal on the board. See image below:

Please use a multimeter to ensure no

short circuit has occurred while soldering.
A short circuit that is not fixed right now
can lead to rapid LiPo battery
decomposition (explosion).

After verifying everything is OK, you can

put away your solder iron since no more
soldering is required in this project.
Step 3: Attaching drone arms to bottom plate

Parts needed: screws that came with frame (in the small bag in the image) and appropriate
wrench

Components: bottom plate of board and arms (red and white components on the left in the
image)

Step 3 Overview
Process: ​use the screws
to attach the arm to the
frame. Try keeping the
same color to one side to
help you later on
understand which way
your drone is facing while
flying. (see completed
image of all arms below)

While screwing in the

arm, put the wires of the
ESC in between the gap
created by the arm.
Once complete, do this for all four arms. It should look like this:

Result
Step 4: Installing motors onto the frame

IMPORTANT: Before proceeding please understand the following:

1) Motors have specific spin direction

2) Spin direction is either Clockwise (CW) or CounterClockWise (CCW)
3) Red color top screw/nut means motor spins CCW
4) Black color top screw/nut means motor spins CW
5) INSTALLING MOTORS WRONG WILL ​CRASH​ YOUR DRONE
6) Incorrect color screw/nut will not tighten onto motor so that’s how you know if
you made a mistake
7) When you remove the motor from its box, the screw should be inside in one of
those holes in the foam. Immediately take the screw and screw it onto the motor
so that you don't confuse yourself with which motors spins CW and CCW

Components: drone frame, motors, and long screws that came with the frame

Drone Frame, Motors, And Long Screws

DIAGRAM OF HOW TO ORIENT MOTORS:
Process:​ Use the long screws to secure the motors to the frame. 4 screws per motor
Step 5: Install NAVIO2 HAT onto Raspberry Pi

Parts needed: screwdriver

Components: screws, pin header, and spacers that come in NAVIO box, Raspberry Pi, NAVIO2
HAT

Note: we are using Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

Components
Process:

First using 4 screws, install the standoffs onto the Pi and tighten screws. Then attach the pin
header onto the Pi.
Then, attach and press down the NAVIO2 onto the Pi. Use the remaining 4 screws to secure the
NAVIO2.

The entire completed setup will look like this:

Step 6: Install Pi+NAVIO2 onto the top plate

Components and parts needed: double sided tape, Pi+NAVIO2, top plate

Process: ​Flip the Pi and place it on the table.

Put the double sided sticky tape on the Pi as shown. DO NOT COVER THE BLACK CHIP OR
THE SD CARD SLOT!!!
 Remove the red top cover to expose the sticky side of the tape.

Now we need to place this Pi onto the top plate.

Place it almost in the center but slightly to the back to allow access to the SD card slot after the
drone is built. See images below
Step 7: Installing top plate to the drone

Parts and components needed: screws (that came with frame), top plate, wrench

Process:​ Attach the top

plate to the drone using the
screws. It is completely okay
to only use 3 screws per
corner. Don't worry about
the 4th.

After doing that, the drone

should look like this image
on the left.
Step 8: Fixing ESCs to frame securely

Components needed: drone, zip ties

Process:​ feed the motor wires through the frame so the wire leads are at the bottom near the
bullet connectors. Then, zip tie the ESC to the frame, as close as possible to the frame. Also,
zip tie the red and black wires of the ESC to aid in support.

This is what it should look like:

Now, loop the blue ESC wires to take away slack. Then, connect the bullet connectors to the
motor leads. See image below. The order doesn’t matter for now. Also, do not put any tape or
heat shrink as later we may need to remove the connectors to fix spin direction.
Repeat these steps on all four arms of the drone.

Step 9: Bind Controller/Transceiver/Transmitter with the Receiver

Components needed: RC controller/transmitter, RC receiver, jumper cable that came with

receiver, battery converter, AA batteries for RC controller, charged drone battery
Process:

First, take the jumper cable and attach it to the BAT slot on the receiver (see image below)

Now, put 8 AA batteries into the RC Transmitter.

Pick any 1 ESC. Take its White-Red-Black wire and plug it into channel 3 on the receiver. The
white wire should be closest to the receiver label and the black wire should be furthest away
from the label. See image below:
Plug in the battery converter into the battery. Then plug in the battery into the drone power
connector. The ESCs should start making beeping sounds and you should see a blinking red
light inside the receiver.

A blinking red light indicates that that receiver and transmitter/controller haven’t been
binded/paired yet. So let’s do that.

Make sure the controller is OFF.

Holding down the BIND key (on the back of the controller), turn on the controller. The blinking
red light should become a solid/constant red light. This means that they have been
binded/paired successfully.
Step 10: Calibrating the ESCs

We need to calibrate the ESCs so that they are sensitive to the throttle input from the RC
controller.

Components: RC controller, drone, RC receiver, charged drone battery

Process:

Pick 1 ESC. Take its signal wire (white-black-red) and plug it into channel 3 on the receiver. Just
as below, the white wire should be closest to the label on the receiver.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE NO PROPELLERS (PROPS) INSTALLED!

With the drone powered off, turn on the RC controller. Then, take its throttle stick all the way up
(FULL Throttle). See image below:

Now, plug in the battery.

You will hear a DING-DING.

After hearing that, put the throttle down all the way to NO Throttle. You will hear
DING-DING-DING.

That means that ESC has been calibrated. Now do this for the remaining 3 ESCs.
Step 11: Checking motor spin direction

PLEASE PLEASE PAY ATTENTION​.

We are putting a single prop onto a motor to check if it is spinning correctly in the
correct direction.

Recall we have two directions:

CW and CCW.
Red top motor spins CCW
Black top motor spins CW

Process: ​Connect the signal wire of 1 ESC to Channel 3 of receiver. Then plug in the battery of
the drone. Then turn on the RC controller.

Now, ​SLIGHTLY​ push the throttle. ​SLIGHTLY​. If you push it too much your drone might
lift and cut you or something else. ​DO NOT GO FULL THROTTLE. YOU WILL CUT YOUR
EYE(S).

If the motor spins correctly, great! We can check the other motors.

If the motor doesn’t spin correctly, swap 2 of the motor wire connections with the bullet
connectors. This should fix it.

Check all motors.

Step 12: Attach PPM encoder and RC receiver to the drone

Components: PPM Encoder and RC receiver, double-sided sticky tape

Process: ​First attach the wires to the PPM encoder if not already attached out of the box. Then
follow the following configuration:

White-Red-Black wire into Channel 1 (White wire closest to label)

Orange wire into Channel 2 (closest to label)
Yellow wire into Channel 3 (closest to label)
Green wire into Channel 4 (closest to label)
Blue wire into Channel 5 (closest to label)
Purple wire into Channel 6 (closest to label)
Now, put tape on the underside of the PPM encoder and RC receiver and stick them onto the
drone as shown below:
Take the output wire (white-red-black) and plug it into the PINS labeled PPM/SB on the
NAVIO2.
The white wire should be on top. See image below:
Step 13: Connecting ESCs to the NAVIO2 HAT

Process: ​This is the configuration to be used below. Plug in the ESC wires into the NAVIO2
hat. All the white wires should be on top.
Step 14: Attaching and connecting the telemetry module to the drone

Components: 915MHz Ground and Air unit, 2 antennae, UART cable, velcro or sticky tape

Process: ​First, screw on the antennae onto the modules. Then, put one end of the UART cable
into the air module.

Now, attach the air module to the drone using either tape or a velcro strap. Then, take the
output wire and attach it to the UART port on the NAVIO2 HAT.
Step 15: Attaching Power module to drone

Components needed: electrical tape, double sided tape, battery converter, and power module

Process: ​First, cut the clear plastic on the power module.

Then, wrap the module in electrical tape.

Attach the battery converter to the module. It should only fit into one side of the module.

Put double sided tape on the power module. Stick the power module on the underside of
the drone. Attach one terminal to the battery connector on the bottom plate of the drone.
The direction of current is important!

Take the output power cables and attach them to the terminal labeled “POWER” on the NAVIO2
HAT.
Step 15: Attaching landing gear (HIGHLY RECOMMEND)

Components needed: Black landing gear, black screws that come with landing gear, wrench

Process: ​Flip the drone over, remove the silver screws, and then store them. Using the black
screws, attach the landing gear into the same screw holes.

In the end, it should look like this:

Repeat this on the other 3 landing gear legs.

Step 16: Building GPS mount and attaching GPS onto it

Components needed: GPS, GPS mounting hardware, wrench, superglue

Process: ​using the wrench, tighten the screws. Then attach it to the drone.

Then, stick the GPS in the orientation shown below and connect the cable to the ANT port on
the NAVIO2.
Step 17: Protecting the barometer from UV radiation (Very Important!)

Process: ​Using some thin foam and electrical tape, cover the barometer to protect it from UV
radiation. See image below:
Step 18: Attach Props

Process: ​Using the same configuration shown below, attach the props.

Note: if you built the drone exactly like this guide, the red props will be on white arms
and black props will be on red arms.
Step 19: Protect all electrical connections with electrical tape

Process: ​Cover all the ESC bullet connectors with electrical tape.

Step 20: Attach charged battery with velcro strap

Process: ​This step is up to user discretion. Attach the battery wherever you prefer using either
velcro straps or some other secure method.

Drone Setup

Step 21: SSH to NAVIO2 to power source and run the emlidtool command
shown

Process: ​Use the terminal and follow the steps.

SSH username is “pi”

SSH password is “raspberry”

Step 22: Familiarize yourself with arducopter

Process: ​Docs available at ​https://ardupilot.org/copter/