Overview
If you’re a drone enthusiast and love being creative about drones, then this instructable is for you! We build a really cheap DIY drone from ballpoint pen ink tubes and thermocol in Part 1 of this series. Part 2 guides you to build your own DIY Arduino Drone which will be ready to use on its own OR along with a GPS “follow me” capability which will be discussed in the next part. The easy-to-build mini drone follows you on your way.
It uses Bluetooth to communicate with your smartphone and utilizes the GPS coordinates of your cell phone to track you wherever you go. This autonomous drone lets you do your work and minimizes the headache of manual control. Let’s see what goes into making this cheap follow me mini quadcopter.
5. Soldering rod and soldering wire: To solder components on the perf board.
As the first step, you need to build a mini-drone. Get the motors and mount them in the jackets such that the wires are stretched out of the small opening.
Now, insert the wires in the arms as shown in the picture. You can use pen ink tubes to build your own arms.
Connect the central assembly frame to the other end of the arms and fasten the screws of the arms.
Connect the propellers to the motors.
Now, you need to connect your motors to your Arduino Nano. Make connections as shown in the schematic diagram. You need to MIND THE POLARITY of the motors; otherwise, your drone won’t fly. Motors connected to opposite arms should spin in the same direction (see the picture showing the direction of rotation of propellers). Moreover, to provide the rated current to the motors, you need to add transistors, as the Arduino itself isn’t enough to supply the required current to the motors. Insert the legs of the components into the perf board and solder them. Make connections as follows:
Motor RF (Right Front)
Wire 1 (Motor) -> Collector (Pin 1) of Transistor 1
Wire 2 (Motor) -> +5V
Base (Pin 2) of Transistor 1 -> Pin 6 (Arduino)
Motor LF (Left Front)
Wire 1 (Motor) -> Collector (Pin 1) of Transistor 2
Wire 2 (Motor) -> +5V
Base (Pin 2) of Transistor 2 -> Pin 8 (Arduino)
Motor LB (Left Back)
Wire 1 (Motor) -> Collector (Pin 1) of Transistor 3
Wire 2 (Motor) -> +5V
Base (Pin 2) of Transistor 3 -> Pin 9 (Arduino)
Motor RB (Right Back)
Wire 1 (Motor) -> Collector (Pin 1) of Transistor 4
Wire 2 (Motor) -> +5V
Base (Pin 2) of Transistor 4 -> Pin 12 (Arduino)
If a motor doesn’t move in the intended direction, swap its pins.