Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Meet Flappy 2024

Flappy is McGill Robotics’ newest drone, aiming to combine winged flight with quadcopter hover capabilities through a custom hybrid frame.

Identifying drop zones, delivering payloads safely, and avoiding other drones and obstacles, McGill Robotics’ Flappy will be the most capable McGill Robotics drone to date.

Meet Our Team

Over the course of the school year, our team of talented engineers has worked tirelessly to produce a drone to represent our team at this year’s Student Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition. Spanning three different sub-divisions of Mechanical, Electrical, and Software, the students who bonded together to develop and design Flappy are truly some of the most dedicated and exceptional students that McGill has to offer.

38

Members

4th in mission demonstration at SUAS 2024

7

Leads and PMs

Flappy

at a Glance

Autopilot

  • CUAV x6+

Power System

  • 24V 17000mAH Tattu LiPo Batteries (x4)

Propulsion

  • T-Motor V807 (x4)

  • T-Motor AT7224 40CC Puller motor

  • T-Motor ESC FLAME 180A 12S V2.0 (x5)

Navigation Stack

  • SBG Elipse-N IMU

  • Water Linked A50 DVL

  • Custom Pressure Sensor

Embedded Systems

  • Arduino Uno Rev3 (Propulsion).

  • Arduino Micro (Pressure Sensor)

Compute Module

  • NVIDIA Jetson nano

Software Stack

  • Robotics Operating System (ROS) Noetic

  • Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

  • Python3, micro-ROS

Computer Vision

  • Raspberry Pi HighQuality Camera

Flappy

Mechanical Design.

In the mechanical division, we strive for continuous improvement of the structure of the drone. The designs undergo multiple iterations of CADing, prototyping, and testing before being implemented into the final product. Simulations also constitute an integral part of the design process to verify that the components meet our requirements and ensure good integration with the work of other divisions. We use a variety of technologies, such as plastic and metal 3D printing and carbon fiber casting, to optimize the functionality of the drone. Through the collective efforts of the whole division, we aim for maximum mobility, durability, and stability throughout the competition.

Flappy

Electrical Design.

The Electrical Division focuses on battery design, communication hardware, and power management and distribution. The system includes student-designed PCBs and firmware to allow the different subsystems to function seamlessly with a Jetson computer. Members on the electrical division develop circuit design skills using Altium, through hole and SMT soldering skills, and embedded software development skills.

Flappy

Software Design.

The software division is responsible for designing the computer vision framework, a precise control system, and communication between the team on the ground and electrical components, as well as an obstacle detection and avoidance system while in the air. Next, they develop comprehensive simulations that test various systems such as mission planning, vision, controls etc., to ensure the reliability of the system.

Our 2024 SUAS Entry Video

Meet the Drone Team

Community & Outreach at McGill Robotics

McGill Robotics mission is to inspire students to build robots and to build robots that inspire students. We believe it is important to give back to the community which is why we are an organization that advances the field of robotics but also nurtures a community that values sustainability, collaboration, and education.