Design and Fabrication of Infrared Agricultural Quad-X-Copter

Abstract

In agriculture, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used for a variety of tasks, such as mapping, spraying, and crop monitoring. UAVs known as quadcopters are growing in popularity because of their cost, portability, and compact size. Nonetheless, the payload capacity and range of quadcopters are usually restricted. The purpose of the quad-x-copter is intended to be applied in multiple agricultural scenarios. An infrared camera can be added to the quad-x-copter to track the condition of the crops. Farmers can take remedial action by using this information to pinpoint disease or stress areas. Crops can be sprayed with water, herbicides, and insecticides using a quad-x helicopter. For even better navigation and control capabilities, MEMS gyroscopes with high robustness can be incorporated into these drones to make them highly stable in rough agricultural terrain where turbulent weather is quite common and stability of drone in rotation becomes an important factor in making a reliable quadcopter. This project covers both aspects from the design and fabrication of drone to the design and optimization of a single axis MEMS gyroscope capable of improving navigational ability of the said drone greatly.