Building a Quadcopter from Scratch - Tips & Resources

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around building a quadcopter from scratch, focusing on the design and construction of electronic components, particularly a wireless FM transmitter and receiver. Participants share their experiences, challenges, and suggestions regarding component selection and design considerations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses dissatisfaction with existing resources that primarily use Arduino boards and seeks guidance on building all electronic components independently.
  • Another participant inquires about the availability of a spectrum analyzer and questions the allowed power levels for traditional RC frequencies.
  • A participant specifies their intention to build a 2.4 GHz FM transmitter and receiver, mentioning it as an FCC-allowed band, but indicates uncertainty about the design.
  • Another participant suggests that the ISM band is relatively easy to work with, provided there are no interfering devices nearby, and recommends looking into ICs from manufacturers like TI, Analog Devices, and Cypress.
  • A later reply recommends the Jennic 5139 for the project, noting that it can be programmed in C and mentioning the availability of a development kit.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express various suggestions and considerations regarding the design of the transmitter and receiver, but there is no consensus on specific design approaches or components. The discussion remains open with multiple viewpoints presented.

Contextual Notes

Participants have not fully resolved the design specifics for the transmitter and receiver, and there are varying opinions on the best components and approaches to use.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for hobbyists and engineers interested in building custom quadcopters, particularly those focused on designing their own electronic communication systems.

digitalblggr
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I am planning to build a quadcopter from the scratch. I tried to do some research online, and am not happy with what I found. Everyone used Aurdino boards, and just connected the parts together. eg. http://aeroquad.com/

I want to build all electronic components myself like wireless FM tranmitter and receiver, but I cannot find a good enough source detailing all the requirements.

Any help is appreciated.
 
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digitalblggr said:
I am planning to build a quadcopter from the scratch. I tried to do some research online, and am not happy with what I found. Everyone used Aurdino boards, and just connected the parts together. eg. http://aeroquad.com/

I want to build all electronic components myself like wireless FM tranmitter and receiver, but I cannot find a good enough source detailing all the requirements.

Any help is appreciated.

Sounds like a fun project. Do you have access to a spectrum analyzer that covers the frequency band that you want to use for the remote control? Are you going to use the traditional RC frequencies? I'm not sure offhand -- what is the allowed power level to the antenna for the RC frequencies?
 
I want to build a 2.4 GHz FM transmitter and receiver. ( One of the allowed bands by FCC). I still haven't zeroed on the transmitter/receiver design though. Any suggestions?
 
digitalblggr said:
I want to build a 2.4 GHz FM transmitter and receiver. ( One of the allowed bands by FCC). I still haven't zeroed on the transmitter/receiver design though. Any suggestions?

That ISM band is one of the easier ones to build to. As long as there are no microwave ovens or WiFi routers/laptops nearby, it's a pretty open band.

Several manufacturers make ICs for the ISM band. I think TI, Analog Devices, and Cypress offer ICs and modules. You could google 2.4GHz transceiver modules, to see what manufacturers make them. You would typically interface to the transceiver modules over SPI or similar serial interface, from your uC.
 
Try the Jennic 5139.

You program it in C and the software is free.

You want to get the development kit and that's a few hundred dollars though.
 

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