Wind Wall Controller
Skygauge Robotics - Fall 2022
What was this project?
A major obstacle to the Skygauge drone during operations are the strong winds present when trying to get measurements at high altitudes. Even with the hefty weight of the drone, winds could still push the drone off the intended position when it was taking measurements and risk damage to the drone by crashing into the surface it was measuring. Code was developed to mitigate the wind when measuring, but ideally the software should be tested in a variety of conditions in a safe lab environment before taking it out to real world conditions. The wind wall was created to resolve this problem by allowing various wind patterns to be tested on the drone inside the workshop to ensure that when it is taken out for real flights, the wind will not pose an issue.
What were the goals of this project?
The goal was to create a wind wall capable of simulating various wind patterns while conserving funds to verify the merit of getting a larger wind wall. For this project, a drone's flight controller and speed controllers were allocated as well as 8 motors with propellers. The goal of using multiple motors was to make generating wind patterns simpler on the design side and provide a wide coverage in area without using unique parts compared to the drone to lower costs invested into this project.
Who was involved?
This project was a collaborative effort by myself with support from the team. The team assembled the frame, mounted it and provided the control software to the flight controller unit used in the wind walls controller. I mounted motors, designed and built a minimum viable product, then designed and printed a more refined controller unit.
How did it turn out?
The wind wall was built and controlled via the flight controller and speed controllers mounted on the back of the wind wall. A script used to send commands to the flight controller was used to test the wind wall and each motor could be individually controlled. Initially, the wind wall ran off of batteries, but has been given wall power to allow for continuous use without stopping. Tests were done for each motor up to maximum rated speeds for the motors which were successful.
Minimum Viable Product
This was a minimum viable product to show that the wind wall was usable and could be tested while a more refined version was in the process of being made. A cardboard box was used to contain the flight controller unit (shown on the lid of the box, near the bottom of the picture) and two speed controller units (the two parts mounted near the top of the picture). The flight controller unit has a port facing the cardboard lid where a hole was cut out to allow an ethernet cable and kill switch to be plugged in to communicate with it and send commands. Both speed controller units have cables from the motors plugged in from holes cut in the bottom of the box, near the edges.
Wind Wall Controller Unit
This controller unit was made using 3D printed parts in two components. The layout was designed for ease of plugging and unplugging cables and easy removal of the internals in case replacements were needed. The layout also made diagnosing issues simpler by ensuring status LEDs were clearly visible all from one side. Grooves were designed such that an acrylic plate could be slid in to close up the box if desired, but also was not strictly necessary.