Tricopter - A Custom Aerial Photography Platform
This project is the result of an ambition to get into aerial photography. It has undergone many iterations to get from the pine and acrylic frame with a custom made flight controller, to the folding carbon fiber version you see here. This project has been hugely rewarding and whilst it is still a work in progress the current version flies very well
The first iteration, based on a custom made flight controller using an Arduino Uno and an MPU6050 accelerometer/gyroscope. It used the open-source MultiWii code.
After switching to a purpose-made flight controller with more sensors, a new folding frame with vibration
dampening was designed. This frame was far stiffer and lighter, and combined with new bigger motors, improved performance significantly.
For more challenging aerial photography shots, a small first-person view camera and transmission system was wired in. This allows the user to fly the drone through a converted Nexus 7 tablet with a live feed. A HUD was also added to display vital stats.
Finally, a converted brushless gimbal and controller was added to the front of the drone. This allows a GoPro to stay perfectly level even if the drone rapidly changed direction. It was designed to be as modular as possible so it can be taken off when not needed.