On designing autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles based on Raspberry Pi

Due to increasing popularity of drones and other gadgets, followed by commercial availability of semi-professional vehicles and additional parts, it becomes easier to build own unmanned aerial vehicle with technical requirements tailored to user’s needs. The paper is devoted to guide through build and programming process, showing a step-by-step process of assembly, wiring and setup of the vehicle and testing.
The paper is split into sections, each one with one specific step described. The sections cover: laws of physics required to understand the process of building and flying; mechanical parts used, such as rotors and sensors and how they connect altogether; software, from using operating system to choosing programming language to suit one’s needs; and testing of the vehicle, with necessary precautions taken.
The successful testing of our Institute’s vehicle proven the viability of the project, but also, due to Raspberry Pi’s board versatility, showed us the possibility of further expansion of vehicle’s functionality.