Project Summary

Project objective

Design a lightweight drone payload system capable of sensing weather data, transmitting it via the provided radios, and quickly attaching to the drone

Bonus: Program your own radio system using a NRF24 Radio Module

Summary

Designed and built a Raspberry Pi-based drone payload capable of collecting environmental sensor data using a BME280 and streaming it to a home computer via an Arduino radio module. To refine the system, I manufactured multiple iterations of the payload and radio gun components using SolidWorks and an FDM 3D printer. Leading the software development, I implemented sensor reading and radio packet creation on the Raspberry Pi, managed radio transmission using an Arduino with an nRF24 module, and developed a MATLAB script to live plot the incoming data from the serial port. 

Takeaways

• Trust other engineers

• 3D printing is amazing for small iterative designs

• Use shielded wire to prevent EMF noise when working with sensitive radios

Presented Slide Deck