DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF DRONE WITH LONG RANGE FREQUENCY CONTROL

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, are increasingly used in aerial surveillance, agriculture, inspection, photography, disaster management, mapping, and communication applications. The performance of a drone depends on its structural design, propulsion system, flight controller, battery capacity, sensor integration, and wireless communication reliability. This project presents the design and fabrication of a quadcopter drone equipped with a long-range radio-frequency (RF) control system. The proposed drone consists of a lightweight X-type frame, four brushless DC (BLDC) motors, electronic speed controllers (ESCs), propellers, a flight controller, inertial sensors, GPS, RF transmitter and receiver, and a rechargeable lithium-polymer battery. The flight controller processes accelerometer and gyroscope information to maintain stable flight by adjusting the speed of individual motors. The RF communication system provides wireless transmission of pilot commands between the ground transmitter and the onboard receiver. The drone was designed using CAD principles and fabricated using lightweight structural components. After assembly, motor calibration, sensor calibration, communication testing, and flight testing were performed. The experimental evaluation considered total weight, thrust, flight duration, control response, communication distance, and hover stability. The prototype demonstrated stable flight and reliable control within the tested operating range. The study shows that appropriate integration of mechanical design, electronics, control, and RF communication can produce a practical and low-cost UAV platform.