Instruction Guide: UAV Technology Modeling with EV3

The Primary Instructional Materials for this lesson are the attached PowerPoint lessons on Quadcopter Basics and Quadcopter Controllers along with building instructions, videos and coding examples.

Quadcopter Basics PPTX

> Slides 1 to 4 - have students build the EV3 Quadcopter model from the Quadcopter_Build_Instructions PDF on the Primary Instructional Material page:
   >>> NOTE: the EV3 Quadcopter and Controller (from later in this lesson) builds use the parts from 2 EV3 Core sets, so students may be working in larger groups.
   >>> Note the gearing up on each motor to increase the RPMs of the "propellers"
   >>> The photos on the Primary Instructional Material page show how to attached the string and suspend the model

> Slides 5 to 8 - have students program the EV3 Quadcopter to have a 4 propellers turn in the same direction and observe the behavior when run suspended by the string.  The model should rotate about the string.
   >>> The Clockwise Rotating video on the Primary Instructional Material page shows this behavior
   >>> The Primary Instructional Material page has a .EV3 file containing sample code for both the Basic and Controller lessons.

> Slides 9 to 11 - have students program the EV3 Quadcopter to have adjacent propellers turn in opposite directions and observe the behavior when run suspended by the string.  The model should be more stable (not rotating).

   >>> The Counter Rotating video on the Primary Instructional Material page shows this behavior
 

Quadcopter Basics Extensions

> Gyro Stabilization (1 axis) - attach a gyro sensor along the roll or pitch axis to model the IMU stabilization.  Have students write code to increase the speed of the counter rotating propeller pair in the direction of tilt (lower pair) to model increase lift on that side to compensate for the roll.

> Gyro Stabilization (2 axes) - attach gyro sensors along both the pitch axis and roll axes.  Have students write code to increase the speed of the counter rotating propeller pair in the direction of tilt (lower pair) to model increase lift on that side to compensate for the roll.  Then write code to correct for simultaneous tilt along both axes at once.

> Collision Avoidance - attach one or two ultrasonic sensors to model a collision avoidance system (like DJI Spark, etc.). Have students write code to increase the speed of the counter rotating propeller pair in the direction of pending collision to model increase lift on that side to arrest movement in that direction.

Quadcopter Controller PPTX

Note: this lesson uses advanced LEGO EV3 programming techniques (Units 8+ in STEM Robotics 101 EV3), however the required code is described in the lesson and the Primary Instructional Material contains a .EV3 file with this sample code.

> Slides 1 to 4 - review the 3 Axes of Control (Roll, Pitch and Yaw) of a quadcopter.

> Slide 5 - have students build the EV3 Quadcopter Controller model from the Controller_Build_Instructions PDF on the Primary Instructional Material page:
   >>> NOTE: the EV3 Quadcopter and Controller builds use the parts from 2 EV3 Core sets, so students may be working in larger groups.
   > Slides 5 to 9 - have students set up the two EV3 Brick for Bluetooth communication
   >>> Note: The EV3 does not lend it self to a 2-axis joystick build, so this controller is used to control the EV3 Quadcopter model, not mimic a regular dual joystick UAV controller.

> Slides 10 to 11 - have students write code to demonstrate basic Bluetooth communication between the bricks

> Slides 12 to 23 - have students write code to create the EV3 Quadcopter Controller.
   >>> The Remote_Control video on the Primary Instructional Material page shows this EV3 Quadcopter Bluetooth Controller behavior