Table of Contents
Advertisement
Quick Links
Advertisement
Table of Contents
Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel
Summary of Contents for Baseline ParaDrone
- Page 1 ParaDrone Flight Operations Manual 2022-02-06 By BASEline...
- Page 2 Notice: You are entirely responsible for your own safety and compliance with regulations. ParaDrone is a free, open-source, community project. No warranty is provided on software or hardware for any purpose. Paragliding, powered paragliding, and parachuting are all inherently dangerous activities.
-
Page 3: Table Of Contents
Chapter 1: Setup Calibration Chapter 2: Autopilot Planner Chapter 3: Remote control Remote control device Chapter 4: Flight procedures Pilot checklist Groundcrew checklist Remote control Chapter 5: Assembly Materials Autopilot Remote control Tools Cost Motors Printed Circuit Board Software Chapter 6: Implementation details Remote control protocol Appendix A: Board layout... -
Page 4: Chapter 1: Setup
ParaDrone controls a glider by pulling on the left and right toggles. How to attach ParaDrone depends on the design of the glider. For skydiving, clip it to your leg straps. For paragliding either mount it like a flight deck, or make a long ParaDrone to go under your legs. -
Page 5: Chapter 2: Autopilot
Autopilot will not make any turns below 30m. It will begin flaring to land at 6m above ground level. If GPS signal is lost for 60 seconds, ParaDrone will enter a slow right-hand spiral. This is to keep it from flying far away from the LZ in case of lost signal. -
Page 6: Chapter 3: Remote Control
Chapter 3: Remote control Note: You may need a Remote Pilot Certificate to operate ParaDrone remotely, or an equivalent in your jurisdiction. ParaDrone can use LoRa long-range radio for remote operation. LoRa is a protocol that uses unlicensed radio spectrum to do extremely long range communication with low power requirements. -
Page 7: Remote Control Device
Remote control device The remote control device is an ESP32 microcontroller with LoRa and bluetooth radios. A 3D printed case is included in the ParaDrone project files, but is not strictly necessary. -
Page 8: Chapter 4: Flight Procedures
Stay altitude aware! Paraglider jumps often end up low! If in doubt: can always land with glider ● In flight and under canopy Stay aware of ParaDrone above you. If it went unstable on exit, it may be spiraling down at high speed... -
Page 9: Groundcrew Checklist
Groundcrew checklist ● Pre-flight Audio comm check Align relay antenna with jumprun/landing Battery levels Receiving LoRa data Landing zone set RC control check: left turn, right turn, flare Wind check Landing direction Wind limits ● Pre-jump Audio comm check Confirm drop location and altitude Landing zone set Wind check Give all-clear... -
Page 10: Chapter 5: Assembly
Chapter 5: Assembly ParaDrone is an open source, community driven project. I do not sell ParaDrones. The design is intended to be easy to build for any maker. Many of the components can be substituted with no problem. The battery and motors can be changed as long as there is enough power to pull the toggles. -
Page 11: Materials
Materials Autopilot Item Cost Grams Count Total Cost Total grams 12V DC 220RPM Gear Motor w Encoder $36.50 $73.00 37mm metal motor bracket $2.50 22.5 $5.00 45.0 RSL snap shackle $3.00 12.8 $6.00 25.6 3D printed actuator $0.50 11.0 $1.00 22.0 3D printed pulley spool $0.13... -
Page 12: Remote Control
● LiFePO4 battery charger ● 3D printer Cost If you have all the necessary tools, it’s pretty easy to assemble a ParaDrone for under $250 USD. The majority of the cost is: uxcell 12V DC 200RPM Gear Box Motor (x2) $40.00... -
Page 13: Motors
4x LiFePO4 3.2V 650mAh AA battery $16.00 Pololu D24V5F3 Voltage Regulator $5.00 Motors 1. Use pattern in Appendix A to drill mounting holes in the board. 2. Solder wires between battery holder and molex connector. Be quick to avoid melting the plastic. -
Page 14: Printed Circuit Board
7. Tie a loop, and girth hitch the fishing line to the snap shackle. Printed Circuit Board ParaDrone uses a custom printed circuit board (PCB) to integrate the microcontroller, gps, and motor driver. You can have small runs made by services like oshpark.com... - Page 16 Heltec ESP32 LoRa Pin 17 Driver M2_IN1 Pin 2 Driver M2_IN2 Pin 23 Driver M1_IN1 Pin 22 Driver M1_IN2 Pin 13 GPS TX out Pin 12 GPS RX in Pin 33 Right Hall Sensor A Pin 32 Right Hall Sensor B Pin 37 Left Hall Sensor B Pin 36...
-
Page 17: Software
Use PlatformIO to install software on the ESP32 board. To program the ESP32: Install Visual Studio Code and PlatformIO. Open the project in the arduino directory of the git repository. Connect ParaDrone to the computer by USB. Use the PlatformIO "Upload" function to program the device. -
Page 18: Chapter 6: Implementation Details
Chapter 6: Implementation details This section contains internal technical details of how ParaDrone works. It is not necessary to understand this to operate ParaDrone. Remote control protocol ParaDrone uses the following commands when communicating between the autopilot and remote control. The same messages are used on bluetooth and LoRa. Each message type is identified by a letter. - Page 19 ● Altitude MSL in decimeters latitude longitude left right (M) Flight mode Whether autopilot should be engaged (“auto” = 1) or disabled and toggles should return to a neutral position (“idle” = 0) mode (P) Ping Ping the device on LoRa to start broadcasting its location. (Q) Query for option Query for information from the device.
- Page 20 (T) Toggle position control Set the left and right toggle positions. 0 = up, 255 = down left right (U) URL for device After the device connects to wifi, it sends the IP address back to the phone via url message. (W) Start web server This command tells the device to connect to a wifi network, and start a small webserver.
-
Page 22: Appendix A: Board Layout
Appendix A: Board layout Use this template to accurately drill mounting holes in your board.
Need help?
Do you have a question about the ParaDrone and is the answer not in the manual?
Questions and answers