Payload Creation

Using the PAC (Payload Area Connection), an interface under the drone to electrically connect any type of payload, the creation of payloads of all types becomes easier and the assembly and disassembly time is greatly reduced.

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This gives the team an opportunity to create several types of payloads for our competitions in 2024 and it's always a good time to create and optimize payloads in terms of weight, software sequence efficiency, etc.

 

Here are payload examples:

• Airdrop of multiple objects with selection

• Miniaturized passenger cabin

• LEDs for illumination or for finding objects

• Different sensors (examples: air quality, radioactivity, etc.)

• And more

 

Electrically, you have to design PCBs to, for example, select a servo motor through a command from the Jetson or create the circuits for the microcontroller which interprets the information directly from the sensor.

 

As for the software, it is necessary to implement the automation of actions such as moving towards a target and activating a motor to drop an object at a good speed and each payload will give a new challenge.

 

In terms of mechanics, it is necessary to minimize the weight, the space taken by the payload, to maximize the energy efficiency as well as to ensure that in the case of several payloads everything is balanced and that the flight of the drone is not compromised. In addition, while the payloads will be on the bottom of the drone, it will be necessary to put the batteries on the top of the drone in a smart way.