Final Business Plan

VERTIGO 2 ECE Critical Design Review

ECE Project Team Members Calvin Turzillo Prateek Mohan Duro Taylor Ryan Strauss Kevin Boyce Tebo Leburu Jeff Laub Mimi Phan

ECE Coordinator: Mimi Phan

AE Project Team Members Nikhil Nair Luke Alexander

CS Project Team Member Chris Fernando

Project Leader: Luke Alexander

Prepared By: Mimi Phan Received By: Dr. Ken Ports On this 29th November 2004 2

Table of Contents ______

Executive Summery……………………………………………………………………….4 Mimi Phan Team Organization………………………………………………………………………...4 Mimi Phan Current Conceptual Sketches...... 5 Luke Alexander, and Calvin Turzillo Product Detailed Technical Description...... 6 Base Station Control System...... 6 Mimi Phan, and Jeff Laub Onboard Control System………………………………………………………………..7 Calvin Turzillo Communications Module...... 9 Kevin Boyce, and Mimi Phan (diagrams) Servo Control Module...... 10 Kevin Boyce Power System…………………………………………………………………………11 Prateek Mohan Bill of Materials………………………………………………………………………….13 Kevin Boyce, Luke Alexander, and Mimi Phan Product Detailed Software Description………………………………………………….14 Ryan Strauss Interface Requirements…………………………………………………………………..15 Tebo Leburu, and Jeff Laub Reliability Analysis………………………………………………………………………16 Prateek Mohan, and Ryan Strauss Microchip’s PIC18F4431...... 16 Saitek X45 Digital Joystick and Throttle X45………………………………………...16 11.1V 2200mAH Lithium Ion Batteries………………………………………………17 433 MHz Dual-Mode RF Transmitter/Receiver Module……………………………..17 Possible problems that could limit overall life of our product...... 17 Overall Reliability...... 18 Testability Design...... 18 Duro Taylor, and Tebo Leburu Manufacturability Analysis...... 27 Kevin Boyce Financial Status...... 20 Mimi Phan Appendix 1: Current Product Specification...... 23 Appendix 2: Current Gantt Chart...... 26 3

Appendix 3: Circuit Schematics...... 31 Appendix 4: Current Business Plan...... 33

Executive Summery Mimi Phan

The original VERTIGO (Versatile Robotic Tilt-rotor for Information Gathering Operations) team had the goal of designing a dual-mode aircraft that had the ability to could take-off the ground vertically, fly in the air horizontally, and land back on the ground in vertical mode. VERTIGO was successful in producing an aircraft, but weren’t able to integrate a working control system with it.

The main objective to the second year team is to design, construct, and integrate a working control system along with the aircraft.

Team Organization Mimi Phan

Since the main objective of the project this year is to design and construct a working control system to be interfaced with the aircraft, a majority of the team consists of Computer and Electrical engineering students.

Luke Alexander, an aerospace engineering major, will be leading a team of ECE student throughout the project. Mimi Phan has been designated the ECE team lead position. She will be responsible for overseeing the progress of the ECE team, and reporting it to the main project lead.

The ECE team sub-divided into three groups. The circuitry group is responsible for handling all hardware aspects of the controls system. The programming team will have the task of creating working code that will enable functionality in the control system. The web group will provide updates to the team website. Please note that the names italicized indicate sub-team leads.

VERTIGO² ProjectVERTIGO² Manager LukeProject Alexander Manager Luke Alexander

ECE Coordinator ECEMimi Coordinator Phan Mimi Phan

Circuitry Group Programming Group Web Group CircuitryKevin Boyce Group ProgrammingRyan Strauss Group PrateekWeb Mohan Group CalvinKevin Turzillo Boyce ChrisRyan Fernando Strauss PrateekMimi Phan Mohan TeboCalvin Leburu Turzillo PrateekChris FernandoMohan Mimi Phan PrateekTebo Mohan Leburu MimiPrateek Phan Mohan PrateekJeff Laub Mohan DuroMimi Taylor Phan Jeff Laub Duro Taylor 5

Current Conceptual Sketches Calvin Turzillo and Luke Alexander

Figure 1 : Conceptual Drawing of the VERTIGO aircraft

Figure 2: Conceptual Sketch of VERTIGO Aircraft in Air 6

Product Detailed Description

Base Station Description Mimi Phan and Jeff Laub

The base station consists of four different components. These components are the joystick controller, the laptop, the transmitter, and the receiver from the camera. With these four components working, the pilot will have the capability of controlling the aircraft. In addition, the directional coordinates of the joystick can be viewed as an output to screen. Also, live video feedback from the camera located onboard the aircraft will enable the pilot to pinpoint the location of aircraft.

To fly the aircraft, the joystick will be used. While connected to the laptop via USB, the joystick will relay coordinates and button activation information to the laptop. Two controls will be used for displaying coordinate information, one for controlling the aircraft while the other determines the speed of the propellers on the aircraft (throttle control). Input controls will be programmed on the buttons accordingly. Required inputs are switching from vertical to horizontal modes, and activating flaps for flight while in horizontal mode.

Once the information is sent to the laptop, the data will be interpreted and displayed back to the screen. The data that is sent back to the screen is coordinate information from the joystick. This data will come in the form of outputs printed to screen. This will enable the user to ensure proper calibration of the joystick and better control of the aircraft. The information received from the joystick will be translated by a C++ program, and sent to the transmitter in order relay information to the aircraft.

The transmitter will be plugged into the laptop via serial port. It will be sending streams of 8 bytes of data to the receiver located on the aircraft. The last component of the base station will be the receiver from the video camera. A camera is currently mounted on the nose of the plane. It has a transmitter/receiver independent of the one relaying control information. The camera will use a simple plug and play system that will connect to a USB jack. Live video feedback will be displayed on the laptop screen to show positioning of the aircraft.

Materials Quantity Price Laptop 1 $0.00 Saitek X45 Digital Joystick and Throttle 1 $79.99 HVW Wireless Transmitter 1 $58.95 Video Receiver 1 $150.00 Total $288.94 Table 1: Base Station BOM 7

On Board Systems Calvin Turzillo

PIC Microcontroller

The PIC microcontroller we have chosen is the PIC18F4431. This microcontroller is one of the most advanced microcontrollers on the market because it has a high clock speed and offers many options when physically assembling the circuits. This allows for easy modifications and additions to the circuitry if they are deemed needed. The PIC itself is comprised of five user definable ports. Each of those ports has an alternate function, such as pulse width modulation, but for our uses we are going to use them as standard user definable input/output ports. In our system Port A will be used as the horizontal mode servo control, Port B will be used as our vertical mode serve control, Port C pins 15 thru 18 will be used to control the stepper motor, Port C pins 26 thru 28 will be used to control the rotors, and Port D will be used as out serial communications port. We decided not to use Port E because of its limited functionality and the difficulty it provides during the boot sequence since it has a direct correlation with that process internally in the PIC.

System Clock

The system clock on board Vertigo will be running at the maximum rate that the PIC itself can handle. This frequency is clocked 20 Mhz. We choose this maximum frequency for a few reasons. First we wanted the ability to expand the system further at any given time, this means that extra processing power may be needed and if we had to later upgrade the system clock, several other subsystems timings may be altered as an added side effect. We also choose this speed because it makes it easier and more fluidic to command the interrupts in the PICs programming.

Software

Interrupts are used to detect the incoming commands from the base station, store that data in memory, and then change the values for the affected servos and motors. A high clock speed will alleviate much of the delay that would be seen if a lower clock speed was used. The system when running will be receiving an 8 bit signal consisting of 3 groups of numbers. The first two digits will be the motor or servo number. This is used so that the proper motor may be addressed within the system so that the changes being made are sent to the right port and pin. The next three digits will be a value between zero and 255. These numbers correlate to the standard servo control scheme which generates a PWM signal to move the servos to the desired position. This number will also be mathematically altered to control the RPM’s of the rotors and the position for the tilt stepper motor. The last three digits are being left as zeros in case it is necessary later to send more information. 8

Stepper Motor

The tilt of the rotors will be controlled by a stepper motor and its provided controller. The stepper motor we have chosen is from sure step (model #: STP-MTR-34066) and has more then enough capability to turn our rotors. The system is controlled through the PIC using the provided control module. Like the servos this system is also controlled using a variable PWM signal to change its position. This signal will be generated by the PIC microcontroller.

Rotors

The rotors are run by brushless DC motors connected to a closed loop H-Bridge system. The microcontroller will feed the LMD18200 H-Bridge with a PWM signal that in turn will be converted to a DC voltage which will be fed to the motors. The motors each have a tachometer attached to them so that this data may be fed back to the PIC and any speed correction can be made internally. The H-Bridge is powered separately from the PIC because of its high voltage draw. Since the rotors will also only be spinning on one direction, the direction pins will be disabled on the LMD18200 so that no error can be made in the wiring of the circuit. This system will connect to the microcontroller using four pins, two will generate the PWM signal and the other two will receive the tachometer information. Internally the bit will use an error fee back algorithm to make sure the rotational speed of the rotors remains constant no matter the load.

Figure 3: Block Diagram of On-board Control System 9

Communications Module Kevin Boyce Diagrams: Mimi Phan

The communications module, possibly one of the most important components of the system, is responsible for “communicating” the commands issued by the pilot to the microcontroller on the aircraft. A wireless RF transmitter is connected to a serial port on the laptop, and an RF receiver connected to an RS-232 serial port on the PIC 18F4431.

Operation of the communications system will prove successful upon the system’s ability to modulate a digital signal from the base station into an analog signal, transmit that analog signal wirelessly through the air to the receiver, and demodulate the analog signal into a digital signal capable of being processed by the PIC microcontroller.

The RF solutions from HVW Technologies enable project Vertigo2 an ideal, affordable, and effective method of communication between the ground station and the control system aboard the aircraft. The transmitter (and receiver), a credit card sized device is capable of transmitting (receiving) a signal approximately 300 ft. With a built in antenna, it simplifies our design, and provides all the features we will need in a rather small package.

Figure 4: Block Diagram of Communications Module 10

Materials Quantity Price .1uF Capacitor 1 $0.33 LM7805 TO-220 (5 Volt 1 $0.48 Regulator) Perforated Prototype Board 1/2 $0.38 HVW Wireless Transmitter 1 $58.95 HVW Wireless Receiver 1 $88.95 Total $150.09

Table 2: Communications Module BOM

Servo Modules Kevin Boyce

A total of 10 servo motors will control the airborne flight of the aircraft, four servos for when the craft is flying horizontally and six servos for when in vertical mode. The servos for vertical flight mode will adjust the bank, and lift for each set of blades. This will allow for a lateral sweeping motion, as well as the ability to change the rate of ascent and descent, just like in a helicopter. In horizontal mode, the craft will operate much like an ordinary prop-driven airplane. There will be 4 servos controlling the “control surfaces” of the craft—one on each wing of the plane, and two on the tail of the plane.

To control the servo motors, the concept is very simple. The onboard microprocessor will interpret signals received from the ground station, and turn them into what is termed a “Pulse Width Modulation.” This PWM signal is capable of controlling the angle in which the servo motor is located by the duration of the pulse sent by the microprocessor. When the servo motor has a proper connection to ground, and 5 volts DC, a pulse of 1 ms will keep the servo at -90 degrees, and a pulse width of 2 ms will send the servo to its maximum of 90 degrees. Angles in between -90º and 90º may be achieved by appropriate values between 1 and 2 ms respectively. This kind of flexibility offers great control of our servo motors far beyond what is needed for the success of the project.

Figure 5: Example of a servo motor. 11

Materials Quantity Price Servo Motor 10 $15.09 Total $150.09

Table 3: Servo Module BOM

Power System Prateek Mohan

The Power System (PS) of the Aircraft will power the following parts:

1. Camera 2. Gyroscope 3. Right wing motor 4. Left wing motor 5. Servos 6. Main on-board PIC Controller, and 7. Stepper motor (part of the tilting mechanism)

The PS is composed entirely of Lithium Polymer (Li-poly) cells. Dependent on the location of the cells, each Li-poly cell will provide either 3.71 volts or 11.11 volts of output at 2200 mAh. These cells will be coupled together serially into cell packs (ie. multiple Li-poly cells in one cell pack) to provide the desired output voltage and current. Keeping this in mind, some of the above mentioned parts will be powered by a common cell pack. There will be 5 cell packs constituting the power system. Information is provided below on which parts will be powered by a single cell pack, what output the cell packs will provide, and how many Li-poly cells will be in each cell pack:

1. Camera & Gyroscope  Cell Pack 1 (output: 7.4V # of cells (3.71V cells): 2)

2. Right wing motor  Cell Pack 2 (output: 22.2V # of cells (11.1V cells): 2) 3. Left wing motor  Cell Pack 3 (output: 22.2V # of cells (11.1V cells): 2)

4. Servos & PIC Controller  Cell Pack 4 (output: 11.1V # of cells (3.71V cells): 3) 5. Stepper Motor  Cell Pack 5 (output: 44.4V # of cells (11.1V cells): 4)

(Total # of Li-poly cells required = (2 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 4) = 13 cells)

Cell Pack 1: 2 sets of 4 (connected in parallel) cells connected serially. Cell Pack 2: 2 cells connected serially. Cell Pack 3: 2 cells connected serially. Cell Pack 4: 3 sets of 4 (connected in parallel) cells connected serially. Cell Pack 5: 4 cells connected serially. 12

Figure 6: Battery Distribution 13

Materials Quantity Price Lithium Polymer Cell 3.71V 2200mAh 20 $299.00 Lithium Polymer Cell 11.1V 2200mAh 8 $471.60 Total $770.60

Table 4: Batteries BOM

Bill of Materials Mimi Phan and Kevin Boyce

Materials Quant Price Vendors ity HVW Serial Transmitter 1 $58.95 HVW Technologies HVW Serial Receiver 1 $88.95 HVW Technologies Joystick 1 $80.00 BestBuy Video Receiver 1 $150.00 Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. .1uF Capacitor 1 $0.33 RadioShack LM7805 TO-220 (5 V Regulator) 10 $4.80 RadioShack Perforated Prototype Board 2 $0.38 RadioShack

.1uF Capacitor 3 $0.99 RadioShack 27pF Capacitor 2 $0.66 RadioShack PIC 18F4431 1 $9.54 Microchip.com 4Kbit Serial EEPROM 1 $0.55

4.000Mhz Crystal 1 $1.30 RadioShack Printed Circuit Board 3 $23.00 ExpressPCB JR4131 Servo 2 $159.98 Tower Hobbies JR3121 Servo 2 Hobbico CS-80 Servo 4 Hacker C50-13L Motor 2 $376.00 Tower Hobbies Hacker Master 77-3P Opto Motor 2 $438.00 Controller Astro Flight Cobalt 40 Geared 1 $169.95 Motor Tower Hobbies 11.1 V LiPoly Platium Battery 8 $480.00 Batteries America

PIC EPIC programmer 1 $50.00 Code Designer Software/PBPro 1 $200.00 Microsoft Project $200.00 newegg.com Microsoft Visio Academic $140.00 newegg.com

22 Gauge Wire Roll 1 14

Soldering Iron 3 $30.00 RadioShack Solder (roll) 5 RadioShack Monokote 2 $20.00 Gear Set 1

Detailed Product Software Description Ryan Strauss

The purpose of the software is to send directional signals to the aircraft from the pilot’s joystick controller at the base station, and once appropriate signals arrive at the aircraft, to guide the aircraft in the proper directions. The software will reside on a laptop, with connected joystick (Base Station), and on the PIC microcontroller. Both the laptop and the microcontroller act as intermediaries between the User and the Aircraft. The laptop will act as an intermediary between the joystick and the transmitter (via the serial port) and the PIC will act as an intermediary between the receiver and the various motors and servos on the aircraft.

The Base Station Software (BSS) implementation will be split into two different sections; a Joystick Interface (JI) and a serial interface (SI). The figure below shows the implementation of these three systems.

The joystick interface first opens a specific joystick controller it then reads the joystick controller device. The joystick interface will poll the device and continuously capture both the joystick coordinates and the joystick button states. This data is translated and then sent to the serial interface to be transmitted as aircraft guidance update information. A serial interface will provide access to the serial port to transmit the joystick control signals to the aircraft. A C++ platform that will employ libraries intended for interactive 2D and 3D graphics applications used in the creation of video games will be used to create the JI because of their joystick control capabilities.

The serial interface is intended to direct joystick control signals from the JI to the aircraft via the serial port. The SI will simply initialize the serial port, which will be connected to a transmitter, and will act as a guide for the joystick control signals to be sent properly to the serial port.

In addition to the Base Station Software described above, the PIC microcontroller will also be programmed with the Flight Control Software (FCS) which will control the aircraft’s several servos, rotors, and flaps. The FCS will be continuously updated with the control signals from the Base Station. It will get these control signals from the receiver, interpret them and then send corresponding signals to the various parts of the aircraft. Each signal from the receiver will be connected to a specific input port on PIC. The PIC will continuously poll for an active signal for each input port. When it interprets an active signal on any of its input ports, it will send a pulse width modulation (PWM) to the corresponding mechanical device that it has been addressed. The figure below illustrates how the FCS will function. 15

Receiver PIC (Data from Flaps Base Station)

Servos Stepper Other Motor Mechanical Devices

Figure 7: Communication Between PIC and Various Components

Interface Requirements Tebo Leburu and Jeff Laub

In order to connect the whole system, three interface points have been identified.

Base Station Computer and the Joystick

The base station computer and joystick will be connected via USB. Using drivers which will be provided by the manufacturer of the joystick, it will be customized in windows so that each buttons’ function is suited to our specifications. The laptop will act as an intermediary between the joystick and transmitter.

Base Station Computer and the PIC

The base station computer and PIC interface will be in the form of a wireless Receiver/Transmitter system. With a total of 18 components to control, it is essential that the interface between the onboard controls and base station be very fast and reliable. This is to ensure that the controls respond in an accurate and timely manner during operation. The transmitter will acquire command data from the computer’s RS232 port and then transmit the data to the receiver attached to the PIC18F4431 microcontroller. The amount of data to be transmitted requires a speed of at least 20 kb/s.

The serial transmitter that will be used for this purpose operates at a frequency of 433MHZ with a transfer rate of 9600 baud which is enough for the required response 16 time and in addition leaves room for retransmission in case of lost or error in transmission.

PIC18F4431 (PIC) and the Aircraft Controls

The PIC is expected to control a total of 13 components on the aircraft; 10 servos, two motor controls, and a stepper motor. Upon receiving signal data from the RS232 port the PIC will generate a Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) signal which will be sent to the servos to produce the desired motion, to the motors to produce the desired speed, and finally to the stepper motor to produce the desired position. The motion and speed will be determined by the PWM signal duration which will control the angle the servos need, and the speed the motors need. For the stepper motor the electrical pulses will be used to provide the desired torque by controlling the polarity of the motor’s shaft magnets. This signal transmission will be enabled through the connection of the PIC I/O pins to the servo and motor’s control wire. For the stepper motor, the PIC I/O pins will be connected to four of the motor’s input wires.

Reliability Analysis Ryan Strauss and Prateek Mohan

Microchip’s PIC 18F4431 Microcontroller

Early Failures:  Excessive temperatures from internal wiring, functional components, and direct sunlight can cause circuitry to melt which will cause malfunctions. This can be prevented by implementing proper venting on the aircraft. Also using heat absorbing materials will reduce temperatures inside and outside of the aircraft.  Random spurts of voltages can occur, causing incorrect signals to be generated. By using voltage regulators, this will limit extremely high and extremely low voltages complicating matters within the plane. Wear Out:  According to Microchip.com, the 18F4431 with its onboard flash memory will last from five to ten years.

Saitek X45 Digital Joystick and Throttle X45

Early Failures:  Mechanical parts may break. For example, buttons get stuck or a spring may pop out. This can be prevented by having the User ‘be careful.’ Budget will cover all warranties for all parts being used on this project, which includes the joystick. Wear Out:  This product is expected to last five to ten years 17

11.1V 2200mAH Lithium Ion Batteries

Early Failures:

 A chemical imbalance within the battery can occur but is highly unlikely. Replacing the battery would be the only preventative measure that can be taken.

Wear Out:

 Because batteries utilize a chemical reaction to function, they may deteriorate over time, even if not being used on a daily basis. If a battery cannot hold its charge, it may be time to change the battery. We can expect each lithium polymer battery to last approximately 400 minutes or 6.5 hours without being recharged.

433 MHz Dual-Mode RF Transmitter/Receiver Module

Early Failures:

 Excessive temperatures from internal wiring, functional components, and direct sunlight can cause circuitry to melt which will cause malfunctions. This can be prevented by implementing proper venting on the aircraft. Also using heat absorbing materials will reduce temperatures inside and outside of the aircraft. This applies for the receiver only.  Random radio frequencies may interfere and cause loss of data through the air. The only way to prevent this from happening is by using different frequencies than most popular radio devices.

Wear Out:

 These devices are expected to last from five to ten years.

Possible problems that could limit overall life of our product

 Short Circuits: Short circuits are very detrimental to this project (during production, testing, or actual flight). These short circuits might affect a single component or all the components onboard. To prevent a short circuit, careful consideration is being taken as to where the wires cross over and whether enough insulation is being provided.  Soldering Errors: Soldering plays a major role in all electronics. One major problem with soldering is the development of cold spots. For preventing cold spots we will be using a multi-meter to check whether all connections work effectively. In case of bad soldering, we will have back- up boards to replace the previous malfunctions 18

 Dead On Arrival (DOA): Some parts purchased from manufacturers may be damaged by the manufacturing process of delivery process. Our budget will cover any warranties needed.

Overall Reliably

Overall, we have chosen what we believe to be the best products for the best prices that are available to us in accordance with our budget. The only limiting factor for this project would be the lifetime of the batteries onboard the aircraft. Since most flights are assumed to be 15 minutes or less, the 400 minutes of battery life is more than sufficient. As long as there are no DOA defects, we predict that each component will last the required lifetime of the airplane.

Testability Design Duro Taylor and Tebo Leburu

An overview of testing the four main modules:

Our product testing will be divided into four modules, the input control module, the servo-motor controller module, the transmitter receiver module and the input power supply module. Both hardware and software testing will be done and we will require the following test equipments: the computer, oscilloscope, voltmeter, ohmmeter, and power supply. We will be doing hardware testing for right wiring. Several software tests will check joystick communication, transmitter/receiver communication and servo/motor communication to ensure data transfer accuracy. After all systems are tested separately, the equipment will then be connected together into the VERTIGO aircraft and the aircraft as a whole tested to verify that we have a working product.

Test Point Information  Input Control Module: This includes all communication between joystick and laptop. Tests will be done to first to make sure that the joystick and the laptop is working. Then we will connect them together and verify that they are communicating. We also need to test to make sure that the coordinates from the joystick signal are the right ones by observing the output from running code.

Process: 1. Plug joystick into computer. 2. Play Flight Simulator. 3. Turn on our output. 4. Play with joystick controls and observe the coordinates on the screen.

 Transmitter/Receiver module: This part includes testing the serial ports on the laptop and the control board. We also need to test the transmitter/receiver individually. Then we need to do software tests to make sure that the signal from the joystick has been transmitted correctly. 19

Process: 1. Connect transmitter to serial port of laptop. 2. Connect receiver to circuitry (PIC) through a serial port. 3. Turn on transmitter and receiver.

 Servo-motor controller module: This part includes the PIC, receiver and other connections to the various mechanical devices. These will be on a single board which will be designed by the group and sent to an outside contractor for production. Hardware tests will be done to ensure that all connection/wirings are functioning. This will involve inspecting the solder points and use multi-meter to check connectivity between points. Then software tests will be done to make sure that the right commands are being sent from the servo to the PIC.

Process: 1. Connect servos to PIC. 2. Send commands through laptop to test proper programming of PIC for each servo 3. Observe servos for proper functionality.

 Power Supply Module: this part includes testing the battery for charge lifetime and power output. We will be using a voltmeter and timer to measure the power output and charge lifetime.

Process: 1. Charge batteries. 2. Connect batteries and voltmeter to modules with load connected. 3. Calculate power consumption. 4. Time how long the batteries last within the power range. 5. Repeat above steps several times to calculate average charge lifetime

 Finally the individual system modules will be connected together to make a whole system with two parts: Base Station and Onboard Control. The Base Station will consist of the joystick, laptop computer and transmitter. Whereas the onboard control will consists of the PIC, servo-motor module and power supply module. Then an overall test of the system will be performed which will verify that the correct signals are being sent to the aircraft and that the aircraft is responding accordingly.

Process: 1. Connect all the modules on the base station. 2. Connect all the onboard system components and place on the aircraft. 3. Turn all the devices that require to be turned on. 4. Make simple motions with the joystick and observe how the GUI and aircraft responds. 5. Continue with advanced motions. 20

Perform the full operation for plane takeoff and observe the flight of the aircraft.

Test Point Table

Test Point Testing Test System Element Purpose Location Summary Equipment Solder points Check for Check solder points, Multimeter correct wiring. and measure voltage. Communications Ensure that the Send signals, and right signals observe response. Servo-motor are being sent controller module to the servos. Joystick Ensure the Observe coordinates Laptop joystick is from output. communicatin g with the laptop. Transmitter/Receiver serial ports Ensure the Plug the PIC (monitor module serial ports are transmitter/receiver, information working. observe response. being received) charge and Ensure charge Charge batteries, Voltmeter discharge time lifetime, power measure output and Batteries output. calculate charge time.

Manufacturability Analysis Kevin Boyce

The control system for Vertigo2 is a custom made system for the aircraft. Therefore mass production is not cost effective. On the contrary, systems similar to ours are often ideal for the defense industry and other industrial applications. Control systems are always different for every application, and are sometimes different even for the same application (depending on who is doing the work). However, our system does leave room for expansion. With several pins left untouched on the micro-controller, different control components may be added such as a servomotor. PIC microcontrollers being extremely flexible, versatile, processors allow us to make our control systems fully customizable. Also circuits are generally simple, and the bulk of the “system” is the program we write, running on the micro-controller. Software being relatively inexpensive is another plus keeping production costs down (aside from one time purchases of development software and of course the cost of labor). Another factor to consider is that parts may be ordered in wholesale and bulk, which comparatively speaking will lower production costs overall. As shown in the table below, are some general prices for bulk production of one of our board designs.

Number of Boards Produced Cost for Production Run Cost Per Board 3 $89.03 $29.68 12 $354.06 $29.50 21

27 $719.95 $26.66 51 $1,259.02 $24.69 102 $2,382.38 $23.36 300 $6,724.76 $22.42 501 $10,964.22 $21.88 1002 $21,469.12 $21.43 Table 5: Manufacture Cost Breakdown

In order to maximize profits, while minimizing production cost and out of pocket expenses, a quantity of 51 boards or more would be cost effective. After many calculations we have decided that we can sell our Servo / Motor Boards at a price of $51.00 per board (not including control components) this will give us a gross margin of: 51.58%. $51.00  $24.69 $26.31   51.58% $51.00 $51.00 Equation 1: Gross Margin

Financial Status Mimi Phan

Funding plays a major role in the success of the VERTIGO project. Without proper funding, the team will not have to monetary resources to purchase the materials to complete the project. Luke Alexander, the project lead, is currently working on gaining funds and sponsors for the project. He has submitted a Bill of Materials and business proposal to Mary Dyer. We are hoping to have the same sponsors from the pervious project as well as some new ones. As of right now, the team has a guaranteed amount of $200 each from the ECE and AE/MAE departments. The MAE/AE team has acquired additional funds from their department of the amount of $400. This means that the team currently has a guaranteed total of $600 in their budget thus far. We still need to acquire more funds to make this project work.

Another factor that plays a major role in the success of the project is teamwork. Without the support and effort of each individual team member, the project would fail. From the numbers shown below, the hours performed by each team member seems very low. It was indeed lower than expected. The low numbers are due to many reasons. The VERTIGO team did not become official until a couple of weeks after the semester started. The hurricanes also contributed to the low work hours. Most members did not have electricity or Internet during this time. One or two members were out of town during the hurricanes. Also, there were some occasions where some team members didn’t send activity reports. That also played a role in the low work turnout. Towards the later part of the semester, team hours have significantly increased. An increase in hours has lead to more productivity within the team. 22

The budgeted hours are based on 8 hours per week. As of right now, the total for budgeted hours is 72. This is based off of nine weeks.

Name Hours Worked Hours Budgeted Percentage Worked Mimi Phan 66.5 72 92.36% Kevin Boyce 31.5 72 43.75% Jeff Laub 12 72 16.67% Tebo Leburu 25 72 34.72% Prateek Mohan 32 72 55.56% Ryan Strauss 20.75 72 28.81% Duroseme Taylor 20 72 27.78% Calvin Turzillo 31 72 43.06% Total 99.5 576 43.26%

Table 6: Hours Worked Vs. Hours Budgeted

Appendix 1: Current Product Specification 23

The Circuitry:

The ECE team members of project VERTIGO² have decided to undertake an existing project from 2003-2004. It has been determined that VERTIGO’s goals were very ambitious given the time constrains of the project. By eliminating the “feature creep”, our main objective is to create a fully functional control system for the aircraft. We found that GPS tracking devices and various sensors (altimeter, air speed, and the like) are not only unnecessary, but also managed to overcomplicate the design. Our plans also incorporate the idea of a non-modularized design. Such design allows us to make the entire control system much smaller than before mostly be eliminating 3 unnecessary microprocessors, and by hardwiring all mechanical devices rather than using bulky sockets and plugs which allow for easy device replacement.

At one point our system design incorporated the use of an RC controller for the ground based control mechanism. We have decided to eliminate the RC controller by redesign, thereby reducing the complexity of the system. This minimizes the time needed to study the controller and its functions. Instead of an RC controller, we will be using a laptop computer equipped with a joystick or game pad along with an RF transmitter to signal the onboard computer in the craft. The serial transmitter operates on a frequency of 433 MHz, has a transfer rate of 9600 baud, using TTL logic as illustrated in Tables 1 and 2.

Inside the aircraft, a PIC 18F, will receive commands via the RF serial receiver. As seen in Table 3, the 18F has a maximum frequency of 40MHz and a supply voltage of 0 to 5 volts. Utilizing an enhanced flash memory system, total memory capabilities are 9,216 bytes (memory types are broken down as seen in table 3). Communications to external devices are provided by the 34 input/output pins available, easily connected because to the dual inline package of the microprocessor. One of the more useful features of this microprocessor is the built in analog to digital conversion. Analog to digital conversion allows for the implementation of analog sensors to check the states of various devices being controlled by the microprocessor, yielding a more accurate control of the overall system, thereby eliminating errors. As a completely individual system, the onboard camera will transmit a live video feed directly to a receiver on the ground connected to a monitor (more in-depth details can be obtained from the table (4) below.

The Programming: Ryan Strauss

The software level of this project consists of two parts. The first part is the Graphical User Interface (GUI), which is the program(s) that the pilot will use to control the aircraft. The second part is the programming of the interrupt controller (PIC), which will control the movements of the aircraft based upon the pilot’s instructions.

The GUI will be created by implementing a C++ serial and joystick library. More specifically, each library has a basic, important function. The serial library is used to facilitate the transfer of information read from the joystick device and output the 24

necessary signals to the PIC via the serial transmitter. The joystick library is correspondingly used to poll the joystick device for its current position, which is used as a reference to adjust the aircraft's position appropriately.

The PIC microcontroller will be programmed using PIC Basic, which is a programming language that is specifically designed to manipulate the PIC. The PIC will act as an intermediary between the pilot and the motors/flaps of the aircraft. It will accomplish this by receiving signals from the laptop controller and sending out the correct signals to the motors and flaps on the plane. To implement this, the PIC will have to continuously poll each input port for a signal from the laptop (via the serial port). Once the PIC receives a signal or signals from the laptop, it will then send a signal to the corresponding motor or flap to move.

To help differentiate distinct signals and to ease flight operations, the PIC will operate in two modes. The first mode is the vertical mode, which is used mainly for take-off and landing. The second mode is the horizontal mode, which directs the travel of the aircraft. Besides polling different input ports, each mode will also control the position of the propellers on the aircraft. The use of two separate modes will also allow for a more dynamic joystick control because one movement of the joystick can now do two separate aircraft maneuvers.

Product Device Specification Details Wireless Serial Transmitter Frequency 433 MHz I/O Transfer Rates 9600 baud Range 75m (250 ft) Supply Voltage +5 v Approx board size ~3.25 in x 1.25 in Connection Single Pin serial connection Serial Data Interface RS-232 (Max 232A)

Table 2: Serial Communications

Product Device Specification Details Wireless Serial Receiver Frequency 433 MHz I/O Transfer Rates 9600 baud Supply Voltage +5 v Approx board size ~3.25 in x 1.25 in Range 75m (250 ft) Connection Single pin to microcontroller Serial Data Interface TTL RS-232 (Max 232A)

Table 3: Serial Communications 25

Product Device Specification Details PIC18F4431 Maximum Frequency 40MHz Memory Type Enhanced Flash Memory Program Memory Size 8,192 bytes EEPROM Size 256 bytes RAM Size 768 bytes I/O Pins 34 Package Style Dual Inline Package PWM Signals 8 A/D Conversion 10-bit

Table 4: The Microprocessor

Product Device Specification Details Wireless Camera w/ receiver Frequency 2.4 GHz I/O Transfer Rates Supply Voltage Approx board size Weight Connection Serial Data Interface

Table 5: Other Devices

Appendix 1: Current Gantt Chart 26 27 28 29 30

Appendix 3: Circuit Schematic (PIC Diagram) 31 32

Appendix 4: Current Business Plan 33

The only changes made to the business plan were the removal of “Side Effects of Atmospheric Flight” and minor formatting.