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COURSE

AIR-001

3 Levels · 3 Months

An introduction to Aviation.

AIR-001

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Level 1

Level 0

Generic Tasks

TASK 1: 3D Printing

Understand the working of a 3D printer, check out the online resources. Understand what's an STL file, and then learn to slice it (using ultimaker or creality slicer).Go through the SOP'S regarding the 3d printer. Learn about bed temperature, infill density and other printer settings. Finally get an STL file from the internet, and slice it and put it for print.

Resources:

● Introduction to 3d printer

● PLA settings

● Types of 3D printing

(Note this task is to be done under coordinator supervision.) 3dprinter

Task 2: API

Learn what an API is and how it works through this video. Using any API of your choice, build a user interface (web app, mobile app, etc.) to make calls and display information. An example weather app using the Open Weather API is provided below.

Resources:

Task 3: Working with GitHub

Familiarize yourself with GitHub integrated workflows such as GitHub Actions, Issues, and pull requests. Visit the provided git repository and perform the tasks stated in the README file.

Check this link for more info:

Task 4: Command Line on Ubuntu

Get familiar with the command line on Ubuntu by completing the following subtasks:

  • Create a folder named test.
  • cd into that folder.
  • Create a blank file without using any text editor.
  • List the files in that folder.
  • Create 2600 folders in this folder, each named with a format like M90 or B56.
  • Concatenate two text files containing random text and display them on the terminal.

Resources:

Task 5: Kaggle Contest

Create a Kaggle account, participate in the Titanic ML competition, and familiarize yourself with how the Kaggle platform works. The competition involves using machine learning to predict which passengers survived the Titanic shipwreck.

Resources:

Task 6: Working with Pandas and Matplotlib

Using Pandas and Matplotlib, and a dataset of your choice, plot a line graph, bar graph, and scatter plot.

Reference:

Task 7: Create a Portfolio Webpage

Create a website to showcase your portfolio, including information about yourself, interests, projects, and social media profiles. Ensure the site is responsive and pushed to a git repository. Use any CSS framework of your choice.

Task 8: Writing Resource Article Using Markdown

Markdown is a markup language used to format plain text. Write a technical resource article on a particular use case or application of UAVs. This article will help you gain technical knowledge and create a framework for future projects.

Link

Task 9: Tinkercad

Create a Tinkercad account and familiarize yourself with the application. Simulate a simple circuit using an ultrasonic sensor to estimate the distance between an obstacle and the sensor, and display the results on the serial monitor. Create a radar system using an ultrasonic sensor and servo motor to detect objects within a certain range.

Resource:

Task Outcomes:

  • Introduction to Tinkercad.
  • Understanding ultrasonic sensors and servo motors.
  • Basics of radar technology.

Task 10: Speed Control of DC Motor

Explore techniques for controlling DC motors using the L298N motor driver and Arduino board. Control the speed of a 5V DC motor with an Arduino UNO and H-Bridge L298N motor driver. Simulate this on Tinkercad and then perform it on hardware. Record videos of the process.

Reference:

Task 11: LED Toggle Using ESP32

Learn how to use an ESP32 to create a standalone web server that controls an LED connected to the ESP32 GPIOs. Use the Arduino IDE to code and upload the program to the ESP32.

Reference:

Task 12: Soldering Prerequisites

Learn about soldering equipment such as solder, soldering iron, soldering wick, and flux. Perform basic soldering on a perf board, such as a simple LED circuit, under the supervision of a coordinator.

Reference:

Task 13: Design a 555 Astable Multivibrator

Design a 555 astable multivibrator with a duty cycle of 60%. Assemble the circuit on a breadboard and observe the output on a Digital Storage Oscilloscope (DSO).

Resource:

Task 14: Karnaugh Maps and Deriving the Logic Circuit

For 4 cases involving door lock/open and key pressed/not pressed, determine the Karnaugh map and create a burglar alarm using simple logic circuits. Use push buttons for the door and key, and design the circuit based on the K-map.

Task 15: Active Participation

Participate in any technical event, inter-college or intra-college, and submit the issued certificate of participation. Enroll in and complete a MOOC course.

Task 16: Datasheets Report Writing

Study the datasheet of either the MQ135 gas sensor or the L293D motor driver and write a report. For the L293D, include details about the ICs used, PWM, and H-bridge. For the MQ135, include calibrations for different gases and the Freundlich Absorption Theorem Graph.

Task 17: Introduction to VR

Familiarise yourself with what Virtual Reality is. Make a detailed study about what's the difference between VR and AR. Mention about the trends in the space and technology stack being developed. Make about Indian companies in this space. Make the report with detail. Using generative AI to generate this study can lead to disqualification.

vrlol

TASK 18: Sad servers - "Like LeetCode for Linux"

Sadservers is an excellent ground to test your Linux troubleshooting skills. Here is a troubleshooting scenario: Command Line Murders. Troubleshoot and Make Sad Servers Happy!
Command line murder
Linux commands
Linux commands

Task 19: Make a Web app

Using express create a resource library website where you can browse the resource articles, books etc which are available and also manage your account
Reference

Aviation Domain-Specific Tasks

1. History of Aviation

  • Objective: To learn about the history of Aviation & Drones.
  • Task:
    • Learn about the history of aviation and drones.
    • The resource video presents a concise animated timeline of aviation history. It covers:
      • Early myths and human attempts at flight (e.g., Icarus)
      • The Wright brothers’ first powered flight in 1903
      • Developments during World Wars I & II, including fighter aircraft
      • The invention of jet engines and the rise of commercial airliners
      • The introduction of supersonic flight (e.g., Concorde)
      • The emergence of drones (UAVs) in modern times
  • Outcome: Show your learning in the form of a timeline/flowchart.
  • Platform: Notion for creating the flowchart & Draw.io for editing it.

Resources:

  1. Video Resource
  2. Resource Article

2. Introduction to Flight Simulators

  • Objective: To learn manual controls, stability handling, and motor mixing using a drone simulator.
  • Task:
    • Learn about the different channels available in the RC and how to control or maneuver the drone.
    • Learn how each motor affects the roll, pitch, and yaw of the drone.
    • Learn how to connect and set up the TX16S RC to the application.
    • In the simulator fly the drone in Angle mode, follow a specified drone path as told by the coordinator.
  • Outcome: Perform the above tasks and write a detailed report.
  • Platform: Real Drone Racing
  • Note: You can use your own computer or the MARVEL systems but the TX16S MKII should be used only in the presence of aviation coordinators.

Resources:

  1. Right way to hold a Tx
  2. What are Channels in a Tx?
  3. Understanding Roll, Pitch & Yaw
  4. Control of Roll, Pitch & Yaw using a Tx
  5. Understanding motor mixing algorithms in a drone

3. Flying the Airblock Drone

  • Objective: To learn about and operate the Airblock Drone available in the lab.
  • Task:
    • Write a report about the drone which should include the name of the application used to fly the drone, type of motors used, material of the drone, propellers used, battery details etc.
    • Fly the drone in a certain specified path as told by the coordinator, record it and put it up on the report.
  • Outcome: Perform the above tasks and write a detailed report in the Blog Post section, provide link to your blog post in the main report.
  • Platform: MakeBlock App
  • Note: This task should be performed only in the presence of aviation coordinators.

Resources:

  1. App Guide
  2. Technicalities of the Drone

Level 2

LEVEL 1 (3 Months)

1. Introduction to Aerodynamics and Aircraft Structures

  • Objective: To understand fundamental aerodynamic principles and forces in aviation.
  • Task:
    • Study Bernoulli’s Principle, Newton’s Third Law in aviation, and aerodynamic forces
    • Understand lift, drag, thrust, weight, and stability
    • Learn about primary and secondary control surfaces
    • Do a thorough study about the concepts of aviation present in the given resource articles
  • Outcome: Perform the above tasks and write a detailed report.

Resources:

  1. Basics of drone science Part 1
  2. Basics of drone science Part 2
  3. Resource article on general theory of flight
  4. Lift Equation & it's dependencies
  5. Introduction to control surfaces

2. Understanding and Designing an Air foil

  • Objective: To understand airfoil fundamentals and perform modeling and CFD analysis.
  • Task:
    • Understand the fundamentals of an airfoil, terms associated with it, the nomenclature, and the concept of turbulence
    • Use Fusion 360 to model a NACA 4412 airfoil of 100 mm chord length & 160 mm airfoil span using DAT to Spline/Canvas tool
    • Simulate lift and drag at 25 m/s wind speed to ensure at least 5N lift using Autodesk CFD
    • Compare results for two materials: composite-based airfoil & wood-based airfoil
    • State the Angle of Attack in your report
  • Outcome: Perform the above tasks and write a detailed report.
  • Platform: Autodesk Fusion for CAD & Autodesk CFD for CFD
  • Note: Fluid Constants for CFD to be used as shown in the resource video.

Resources:

  1. Intro to Airfoil
  2. Parts of an Airfoil
  3. NACA nomenclature
  4. Concept of turbulence
  5. System Requirements for Fusion 360 & Autodesk CFD
  6. Claiming student license in Autodesk
  7. CAD Tutorial
  8. CFD Tutorial

3. Basic UAV Assembly & Components Familiarization

  • Objective: To understand and identify essential UAV components and their compatibility.
  • Task:
    • Identify and understand flight controllers (Pixhawk, APM), ESCs, motors, propellers, and battery management
    • Learn about LiPo, Li-ion, and NiMH batteries, their charge cycles, and safety
    • List all the components required to build a quadcopter with a minimum thrust-to-weight ratio of 3:1, each of the components should be compatible with each other.
    • Perform manual pen-and-paper calculations for flight time and thrust-to-weight ratio using component datasheets
    • Use E-Calc to verify the results
  • Outcome: Create a detailed report justifying each component choice with compatibility proof, it should also contain images of the calculations performed along with the verifications.
  • Platform: E-Calc

Resources:

  1. Basics of Drone
  2. Basics of Propeller
  3. Motor Nomenclature
  4. Technicalities of a BLDC motor
  5. Size & Volume of a motor with it's dependencies
  6. Reason why propeller & motor size should match
  7. Relation between the Kv & torque of a motor
  8. Relation between the 3 constants associated with a BLDC motor
  9. Basics of ESC
  10. Basic terms associated with a battery
  11. LiPo vs NiMH Battery
  12. Combination of LiPo battery
  13. How to choose a battery for the drone
  14. Flight time calculation

4. Propeller Blade Design & Simulation

  • Objective: To understand propeller fundamentals and simulate its aerodynamic performance.
  • Task:
    • Understand the basics of propellers and their nomenclature
    • Learn the need for clockwise and anticlockwise propellers
    • Study:
      • Identification of clockwise and anticlockwise propellers
      • Factors affecting propeller efficiency
      • Conversion from 2-blade to 3-blade propellers
    • Design a 2-blade clockwise or anticlockwise propeller to generate a minimum of 8N lift, also state the diameter of the designed propeller
    • Run a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation ONLY on Autodesk CFD
  • Outcome: Perform the above tasks and write a detailed report, including all the necessary CAD & CFD images.
  • Platform: Autodesk Fusion for CAD & Autodesk CFD for CFD
  • Note: Follow the following instructions for CFD simulation:
    • For boundary condition, on the bottom surface of the external volume, set a constant air velocity of 0 m/s towards the parallel top external surface
    • Set propeller motion to Angular type with 15,000 RPM or 1571 rad/s
    • Use the preview option to verify that motion is applied correctly to the propeller
    • Choose transient mode for solving with:
      • Time Step Size = 0.00025
      • Stop Time = 0.1
      • Inner Iterations = 5
      • Time Steps to Run = 400

Resources:

  1. Basics of Propeller
  2. Real life application of diameter & pitch
  3. Why do we have clockwise & anticlockwise propeller
  4. Checking if a propeller is clockwise or anticlockwise P1
  5. Checking if a propeller is clockwise or anticlockwise P2
  6. 2 Blade Vs 3 Blade Propeller
  7. Conversion between 2 blade & 3 blade propeller
  8. Propeller specs for racing drone
  9. CAD of a propeller

5. Understand about ESC

  • Objective: To control the speed of a BLDC motor using Arduino UNO, ESC, and a potentiometer.
  • Task:
    • Control the speed of a BLDC motor using an Electronic Speed Controller (ESC), Arduino UNO, and a potentiometer
    • Understand the concept of ESC calibration and its significance
  • Outcome: Perform the above tasks and write a detailed report.

Resources:

  1. Task
  2. ESC Calibration

6. RF Communication in UAVs

  • Objective: To understand the principles and protocols of RF communication in UAVs.
  • Task:
    • Learn about radio frequencies used in UAVs (2.4GHz, 5.8GHz, LoRa)
    • Understand the various security implications of wireless protocols used in drones, emerging threats, and mitigation techniques
    • Learn how to bind an ELRS receiver & bind the 2.4 GHz RP1 Rx with the TX16S transmitter available in the lab
  • Outcome: Perform the above tasks and write a detailed report.
  • Platform: ELRS Configurator for updating the firmware.

Resources:

  1. Basic differences between 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz
  2. LORA in depth
  3. Security concerns with frequency bands
  4. Basics of ELRS
  5. Technicalities of ELRS
  6. Updating the Tx/Rx firmware
  7. Methods to bind an ELRS Rx

7. Basics of PID

  • Objective: To understand PID tuning for stability in UAVs.
  • Task:
    • Understand PID tuning for UAV stability
    • Learn how GPS Hold and Altitude Hold work, tabulate the differences between the two
    • Tabulate the differences between GPS Hold and Altitude Hold
    • Make a self-balancing car which balances itself on the principles of PID control
  • Outcome: Perform the above tasks and write a detailed report.

Resources:

  1. Intro to PID
  2. PID controller with the help of a simple analogy
  3. GPS Hold Vs Altitude Hold
  4. Self Balancing Bot
  5. .STL Files for the self balancing bot ~To be made by Anwayi

8. Different Flight Modes in Mission Planner

  • Objective: To understand the various flight modes available in Mission Planner and their specific applications.
  • Task:
    • Explore, learn & understand the use case of the following flight modes in the Mission Planner software:
      • Stabilize
      • ACRO
      • Altitude Hold
      • Auto
      • Guided
      • Loiter
      • Return to Home (RTL)
      • Circle
      • Land
      • Drift
      • Pos Hold
      • Guided_NoGPS
      • Smart RTL
      • Follow Mode
  • Outcome: Perform the above tasks and write a detailed report.

Resources:

  1. Different flight modes in Mission Planner
  2. ArduPilot Documentation

9. DGCA Regulations:

  • Objective: To understand the legal framework for operating drones in India.
  • Task:
    • Study the Drone Rules 2021 released by the Government of India
    • Learn about BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) regulations and how they impact flight planning, airspace management, and safety
  • Outcome: Show your learning in the form of a timeline/flowchart.
  • Platform: Notion for creating the flowchart & Draw.io for editing it.

Resources:

  1. Drone Rules 2021
  2. BVLOS Regulations in India

Level 3

Level 2

Design a Leg for a Quadcopter Frame

Objective

Design a leg for a quadcopter frame using the dimensions of the standard T50 frame design for quadcopters. Utilize the generative design tools in Fusion 360 to complete this task with a focus on weight reduction while maintaining the structural stiffness of the leg.

Steps

  1. Understand Generative Design Environment:

    • Gain a thorough understanding of how to operate the generative design environment in Fusion 360.
    • Learn about the use of Obstacle Geometry, Preserve Geometry, and Starting Shape.

  2. Design Considerations:

    • Weight reduction of the legs is a high priority.
    • Ensure that the structural stiffness of the legs is not compromised.

  3. Resource:

Design Process

  1. Dimensions:

    • Use the dimensions of the standard T50 frame design for quadcopters.

  2. Generative Design Tools:

    • Launch Fusion 360 and navigate to the generative design workspace.
    • Define Preserve Geometry to specify the areas of the design that must remain unchanged.
    • Set up Obstacle Geometry to define the areas that the generated design should avoid.
    • Determine the Starting Shape to guide the initial design process.

  3. Optimization:

    • Apply constraints and objectives focused on minimizing weight while ensuring the design meets structural requirements.

  4. Evaluation:

    • Analyze the generated design outcomes and select the optimal design for manufacturing.

  5. Iteration:

    • Refine the design based on the initial outcomes and repeat the process as needed to achieve the best results.

Conclusion

By completing this task, you will gain practical experience in using generative design tools to create optimized components for quadcopters. This exercise emphasizes the importance of balancing weight reduction and structural integrity in design engineering.

generative design drone

ROS 1

Gain a solid foundation in ROS 1 concepts and practices.

Tasks:

  • Set up a ROS 1 environment.

  • Understand core ROS concepts: nodes, topics, messages, services, parameters.

  • Create basic ROS 1 nodes (publishers, subscribers).

  • Explore ROS 1 tools and visualization (rqt, rviz).

  • Work with ROS 1 packages and workspaces.

  • Develop a small ROS 1 project (e.g., simple robot simulation).

  • Rule of the Sky: Implementing Drone Regulations Using ROS

    Resources ROS

Apply ROS 1 to a real-world robotics challenge.

Tasks:

  • Create a Gazebo simulation environment.

  • Model drones and their dynamics in ROS 1.

  • Implement drone collision avoidance logic using ROS 1.

  • Simulate drone regulations and enforcement.

    Resources

Integrate sensors and hardware with ROS 1.

Tasks:

  • Set up sensors (camera, LIDAR, IR) on a companion board.
  • Publish sensor data as ROS 1 topics.
  • Develop ROS 1 nodes to process sensor data.

Resources

ROS 2 Fundamentals

Learn the new features and improvements in ROS 2.

Tasks:

  • Set up a ROS 2 environment.
  • Understand ROS 2 architecture (DDS-based communication).
  • Create basic ROS 2 nodes (publishers, subscribers).
  • Explore ROS 2 tools and visualization (rclcpp, rclpy).
  • Compare and contrast ROS 1 and ROS 2.

Resources:

ROS-taurant Renovation: Learning How to Use ROS 2 with ROS 1

Integrate ROS 1 and ROS 2 systems.

Tasks:

  • Understand the need for interoperability.
  • Learn about the ros1_bridge package.
  • Create a bridge between ROS 1 and ROS 2 topics.
  • Build a hybrid system using both ROS 1 and ROS 2 components.

Resources:

Advanced Topics and ROS 2 Deep Dive

ROS-a-saurus Rex: Taming the Legacy Beast (ROS 1) with a New Language (ROS 2) (continued)

Migrate an existing ROS 1 node into a ROS 2 node (not completely migrating from ROS 1 to ROS 2).

Steps:

  1. Node Selection: Select a simple ROS 1 node from your project (e.g., sensor driver, processing node).
  2. Port Functionality: Port the functionality of the chosen node to ROS 2 using appropriate ROS 2 libraries and message types.
  3. Integration: Integrate the migrated ROS 2 node with the ROS 1 project using the bridge (if necessary).

Resources:

UVCE,
K. R Circle,
Bengaluru 01

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