No fly zone

no_fly_zone

A custom designed quadcopter and remote combination featuring a custom STM32-based flight controller PCB and STM32-based remote control PCB that combine aspects of sensor fusion, quaternion-based attitude control, wireless communication, and digital ESC communication.

Fully-assembled quadcopter

Flight controller pictured with ESC mounted underneath

Custom flight controller PCB

Custom remote control frame

Remote control PCB

Overview

This project focused on the design and implementation of a custom quadcopter flight controller paired with a complementary custom remote from the ground-up. Rather than buying an off-the-shelf flight controller and remote, almost all aspects of both the flight controller and remote were custom made. I decided to do this project because I have always been fascinated by drones, and I liked the challenge it would bring. It ties together all aspects of signal integrity, systems, low-level firmware, and digital signal processing. Below is a summary of some of the aspects this project entailed...

Custom Features

• Flight controller PCB
• Remote control PCB
• Remote control frame
• Sensor fusion firmware
• Wireless nRF24L01 driver and handler
• Digital ESC communication implementation (DShot)
• Sensor libraries (IMU, Barometer, etc.)
• Encoder and OLED display libraries for remote control

No off-the-shelf software or firmware was used, but some aspects of flight controller design were inspired by PixHawk and Betaflight. Components purchased off-shelf include the ESC, four BLDC motors, quadcopter frame, and board components.

Folder Overview

/firmware

Contains source code, build settings, documentation, and additional information/diagrams for both the remote and quadcopter. A link to the STM32 submodule library can also be found, where most of the sensor implementation is found.

Note: The scripts subfolder in /firmware contains AI-generated Python scripts for validation and testing purposes. AI was NOT used to generate code found on either the remote or flight controller.

/hardware

Contains KiCAD schematics and and PCB fabrication outputs for both the remote and quadcopter. Additional information on hardware selection and design can be found in each respective subfolder.

/3d

Contains the 3D files for the spacers used to separate the STM32 flight controller board and ESC board, along with the 3D files for the remote control housing.

/screenshots

Contains relevant screenshots for those in other READMEs

BOM

All components purchased off-shelf can be found in the bom.txt file, and the BOMs for the PCBs can be found in the .csv files in their respective folders.

Improvements

• Use of magnetometer or GPS unit for absolute heading
• Use of barometer for altitude hold
• Improved remote control PCB including nonvolatile storage (for PID parameters) and amplified transmission power
• Newer remote frame design