Build an Arduino Mini-Drone

Note: This lesson assumes that students have worked with Arduino before and are familiar with some of the basics like blinking an LED and using a button. If you are introducing your students to Arduino for the first time, please see the Introduction to Arduino lesson plan at Science Buddies before starting this lesson. That way, your students will be ready to dive right into the more advanced topics in this course, like controlling the sensors and motors that you will need for the drone.

Drones are becoming a part of everyday life, with uses ranging from aerial photography and recreational racing to package delivery and agricultural applications. Some students might have flown their own toy drones or even seen drones flying around in the sky. Simply buying an off-the-shelf drone does not give students much insight into how they work, but building your own fully functioning remote controlled drone is an intimidating task.

This lesson takes a middle road that is more appropriate for students who are just getting started with electronics and programming. Students will build a mini "popsicle stick" drone that can fly up and down on two guide rails. This way, they only need to worry about controlling the drone's motion in a single direction, while its motion in other directions is constrained. This allows you to introduce them to the basics of motor control, using sensors, and writing a program to implement feedback control with an Arduino — all without having to worry about the drone crashing.

The Arduino Drone Course Overview document includes information about standards alignment, learning objectives, and a summary of each part of the lesson with instructions. Each lesson module contains additional supporting materials like videos, circuit diagrams, and example code. The lesson is organized as follows:

• Part 1: Introduction: Provides an introductory overview of drones, particularly their uses in agriculture. Also includes a more detailed introduction to the ultrasonic sensor and some more advanced Arduino concepts like writing your own functions. Includes slides for teacher use.
• Part 2: Motor Control: Move beyond Arduino basics like buttons and LEDs and learn to control motors using a transistor. Includes a detailed step-by-step video.
• Part 3: Ultrasonic Sensor: Learn to use the ultrasonic sensor to measure distance to a target object. Includes a detailed step-by-step video.
• Part 4: Build the Drone: Set up the guide rails, build the frame for your drone, and attach the motors and wires so they are ready to connect to the Arduino. Includes a detailed step-by-step video.
• Part 5: Feedback Control: Put it all together — now your students have all the pieces they need to write a program that will control the drone's altitude using feedback from the ultrasonic sensor. Includes a student assignment with scaffolded code and a grading rubric.