Overview

The best part about the X8 we are building is everything, you saw the picture on the homepage of the wiki right? So in this write up, I am going to discuss the hardware components, general assembly of the drone, and peripheral devices. Drones in general require a fair amount of circuitry to perform all of the tasks we wish to give them. For this reason we load up the chassis with gadgetry that allows us better control of the vehicle, or adds a new level of autonomy. Each of the features require additional hardware and the appropriate software interfaces to perform the tasks. These interfaces provide the challenge and interest of building a drone of this type, and I will explain those below.

Parts List

Below is the list of part you will need and want to purchase if you are trying to build the X8. I had to modify basically everything to make the hardware what it is now so keep that in mind. I had the advantage of a garage full of hand tools and small power tools along with a shop drill press, band saw, and sanding belts. The software configurations can be modified to accommodate alternate hardware configurations should you want to change the current design.

X8 Multirotor Part List:

• Frame: X4/X8 Saga E450 V3 (Have QTY: 1)

• Motors: GARTT ML 3508 700KV (Have QTY: 8)

• ESCs: ReadytoSky 40A OPTO (Have QTY: 8)

• Ultrasonic: SR-HC04 (Have QTY: 7)

• IMU: Digilent PMODNav (Have QTY: 2)

• GPS: Digilent PMOD GPS (Have QTY: 1)

• Tx/Rx: Taranis X9D+/X8R (Have QTY: 1)

• FPGA: PYNQ-Z1 with ZYNQ 7020 SOC* (Have QTY: 4)

• Additional: Batteries (Have QTY: 4), wires, arduino shield breakout, propellers (Have a bunch), hover test fixture

Just for fun some images of the building of the X8.

FPGA

PYNQ-Z1

RC Receiver

FrSky X8R Receiver

IMU

For the IMU we went with what was on hand, feel free to use a better one if you can. For us it is the Digilent Pmod NAV: 9-axis IMU Plus Barometer which plugs in directly to the PYNQ for convenience with standard 0.1 pitch headers.

Barometer

Not used in this design.

Additional Notes

Author: Aaron Coffman