RC India

Hello everyone,
As a part of my final year project, I built two unmanned ( not autonomous) modules. My project primarily aimed at saving human lives in the defense sector. A little ambitious I know :) . There was a Quad as part of the aerial surveillance module and an UGV as a part of the Ground surveillance module. It housed the following capabilities:
1. 20kg payload capability ( the vehicle itself weighed 15kg).
2. A 3 DOF arm to assist in IED disposal ( very presumptuous I know :D )
3. FPV (equipped with Face Recognition through matlab)
4. Mine detection ( through an inductive metal detector).
5. Temperature measurement and Noxious ( LPG and CO) gas detection.
6. Range Detection.
7. GPS and GSM.
8. Heart Rate monitoring of the soldier and a panic sms to the nearest command post in case of emergency.
9. Vehicle orientation measurement (using an accelerometer) to gather info about the terrain in inaccessible locations.
10. Easy control through joysticks.
I also included a hubsan (acquired through Quadkopters.com) as a micro drone for indoor surveillance.
Although not my own contraption it did serve as a complimentary addition to the whole project.
The quad was equipped with just FPV ( due to lack of funding). But it did serve the purpose.
I realize the project is in its adolescence and needs loads of refinements and modificiations. I hope the members on this forum will critique and in doing so help me improve on the project. Thank you :)

P.S: the black case in the pic serves as the base station for control and GPS.

More pics

 I refrained from posting the pics of Quad, as I believe there are  more higher end quads on the forum :). I would also like to thank Ashta sir for helping me out with the quad. He is a thorough professional and his finesse with electronics and quads is exceptional. Thank you sir.

P.S: The following pic is a precursor to the UGV. A long way since the prototype :).

Very good effort Abhishek. Saw your pics... {:)} {:)}
Well, you mentioned that you used FPV in your quad. So, could you tell whether it was a proper FPV kit including the FPV glass etc.. or something self designed...
 :hatsoff:

Vey nice  :) , a lot of cool tech   , I wish I had one   (:|~ , i hope that you get the best marks for your project :thumbsup: .

Nice ,i hope ur college understands the idea behind it n, hope u get good grades 4 it..

Thank you everyone for the acknowledgements :)
@utkarshg13 : I used a standard FPV kit available (operating frequency 900 MHz, to avoid conflict with the frequency of radio viz. 2.4 GHz ).
Well I did get good grades :) But I was interested in this project since a long time, so its not solely for the grades as such. I want to build it further and improvise on it.

How much did the whole FPV set up cost you? where did you order it?

Awesome!!

@ utkarshg13: From Hobbyking . Back then it cost me about 2,100/- in Indian Rupees. The shipping was nominal cause I had ordered a lot of items. It took about 12 days to arrive. :)

@Rahulvyas: Thank you :)

Thank you Abhishek.

man this thing is stunning..

@manu : Thank you :)

Really great project abhishek.  :salute: :salute: {:)} {:)} :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
BUt only if we could see some video.  8-)

I can barely make out the arduino in the pic. ;D I am doing a very similar project for my final year as well and would love to see some more pictures. May I know which motor-Hbridge combination you used? An AUW of 35kg would need a lot of motive power..

Good work there Abhishek :thumbsup:

sajid6300shaikh : Thank you :) I will soon upload a video

@Satya sir : Thank you sir. Your help was instrumental in completing this project.

@lastRites : I used a generic (custom made) H-bridge from a combination of SPDT and DPDT relays to handle the huge power requirement. The drive mechanism alone consumed 150 W on full load. I will upload some more pics soon. And best of luck for your project :)

So no speed control?

What motors did you use?

@lastRites: Speed control was afforded by PWM driving the relays. If the PWM duty cycle is above 20% and frequency in the lower range ( few hundred hertz to 1 KHz), the relays provide satisfactory performance. I used normal DC motors with Planetary gear box. Procured them from a friend who told he bought them in Lamington road, I suppose in Mumbai.

@lastRites: I am currently building a H-bridge using power mosfets, that I intend to use in a Robotic arm. If all goes well may be you could use that schematic. It will provide a constant current of 30 amps at 5-50V. Also switching frequencies as high as 25KHz and breaking facility.

This can be easily done with an IC but i cant remember the number, but very similar to L293d but of high current capacity. no relays needed hence lot of power loss saved and no sound too... ive did it already while helping one of my fellow scholar for a automatic wheel chair prototype. it weighs around 20KG but a bigger geared motor.

Ashok.P

PWM on relays? A very bad idea IMO. :P How much for the motors? Planetary gearheads are costly...

@lastRites: Well it worked for me :) Motors cost me 900 Rs a pop

Planetary gearheads for 900??? :O ;D Where can I get those from? I want atleast 6!

Try Garages or Scrap shops, they usual have those from windshield motors or wiper motors. Although most of them are not planetary gearheads and are worm gearheads if speed is not  your concern, that should suffice.

No efficiency and reliability are my concerns. Worm gears suck at efficiency.

Well then you can try the motors from powered Wheelchairs :) Those will cost you a ton :)

Can you post pictures of your motor. I know about the alternatives. I am interested in the motor you have. I have a planetary motor. Costed 2.5k. Very efficient and silent but not enough torque.

Sorry for the delay :) was out of station :)

That is not a planetary gearhead motor :P That is simple single stage worm drive reduction. Not at all suitable for locomotion. The rpm will be around a 100 at 12V, right?

@ lastRites: Well I may be wrong :) I turned the motors inside out. I was able to get in contact with the person and get the address of the place that sells this stuff.. Hope it helps. I guess the current motor is outdated. but they do have a 300 RPM one.

http://www.sproboticworks.com/motors-and-accessories/planetary-geared-motor.html (http://www.sproboticworks.com/motors-and-accessories/planetary-geared-motor.html)

That's a lot of gunk :P Kerosene works wonders...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkHqe3nwfEw&list=UUN3ISGEEfBEQKcv7Ui_haBg&feature=c4-overview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkHqe3nwfEw&list=UUN3ISGEEfBEQKcv7Ui_haBg&feature=c4-overview)


finally got a video edited :)