Real Time Hexacopter Drone for Surveillance and Security Management of Mirpur University of Science and Technology

Project Title

Real Time Hexacopter Drone for Surveillance and Security Management of Mirpur University of Science and Technology

Project Area of Specialization RoboticsProject Summary

Drones are used for various purposes, such as safety, security, weather monitoring, videography, traffic monitoring, photography, 3D mapping, shipping and covering sport events. The aim of our project is to develop a hexacopter drone to provide surveillance to enhance security and monitoring. The project aims at strengthening existing security system of Mirpur University of Science and Technology (MUST) by providing additional eyes and ears to substantiate the existing system. Over the last decade, the university has often seen frequent cases of bikes, laptops, and valuable items theft in addition to regular strikes, which often need continuous monitoring of different area of campus.

University already has security system consisting of limited number cameras which are fixed at different locations. The existing security system is not enough to monitor the complete area and cover the events at all places of university. In our project, the drone has a camera which can capture videos and pictures continuously and store in memory. The drone will be connected to central security office where the security officials can control the drone and watch live coverage of university premises. They can immediately respond to any unusual suspicious activity.

Project Objectives

 Our project will basically provide benefits to the security authorities at Mirpur University of Science and Technology (MUST). It will provide information about what is happening around the campus. During the past few years, the university has often seen many cases of bike, laptops and other valuable items theft of students and faculty members, which needs continuous monitoring.

 To overcome these situations, we will make a hexacopter drone, which will update us about any nefarious activity occurring in the university. In case of such activities, where advanced surveillance and live monitoring is required, the drone can be flown to the area to capture the images and videos. The designed hexacopter drone design is an applications specific solution, and special emphasis will be given to control coding and design to make it suitable for use in university security and surveillance. In addition, an Android application will also be developed for live monitoring and close support to enhance user control and easy integration with the existing system.

Project Implementation Method

The project will go through the following phases

1. 1. Assembly of Hexacopter Drone.
2. Mission planner software used for calibration, simulation and Device Test.
3. Development of software based android application.
4. Final test to cover unanticipated and accidental events.

These steps are explained below:

Assembling: Firstly we assembled all the components of drone. Following is the detail of components that we have used in our Hexacopter.

Hexa frame:The frame of the hexacopter drone consists of six propellers. The six propellers provide a stable flight, more power and safety feature.

Motors:  A DC motor is used in this project. DC motor is made up of small permanent magnet of iron and cobalt alloy.

Propellers: These will control up and down forces. these will also help drone to change direction. The spinning of propellers will push air down to fly.

ESC: It is Electronic speed controller, it will control the spinning of propellers to control speed. It includes battery eliminator circuit and other components.

Battery: it will provide voltage to the system.

Power module: it will be the connector of battery to the system.

Transmitter and Receiver: As it is clear that it is a transmitter and receiver unit which will transmit directing signal and receive incoming information to fly.

GPS: It will help to navigate drone. It is basically positioning and tracing unit of the system.

Telemetry: It is the unit that will help to connect different wireless devices to the drone.

Gimbal: it will stabilize the camera to take better quality pictures to avoid any kind of misinformation.

Camera: It is used to take pictures of any site.

Mission Planner: In the second step we connected the drone to the computer using the software named as “Mission Planer”. Mission planner is a simulation tool that is used to set all the parameters of drone. These parameters include voltage and speed of motors and selection of different modes like altitude of drone, return to land and stability during flight.

Android Application: We will control the drone by a mobile application. In this step an android application is developed which can be used to control the Hexacopter as well as to store the video and pictures.

Testing: In the last step we have tested our drone against all operating modes and exceptions.

Benefits of the Project

Following will be the benefits of our projects:

1. If the university has a drone, it will reduce the usage of security cameras.
2. It will help in reducing unethical activities going around the campus.
3. It can also cover sports events and any other events happening in the University.
4. It will provide right and quick information to the security authorities in case of an emergency.
5. With standard software and analytical tools, images and other information collected from a university site can be used to generate standard reports that are easily shared across different departments.
6. Other than security and other purposes, drones can provide outstanding video footage for marketing initiatives for different societies working for the betterment of the university.
7. It is less risky and safer to use drones in hostile environments for applications, such as radiation monitoring, inspecting high-voltage lines, and other installations that can cause injuries or health problems. Since most of these applications must be inspected while still in operation, a manual process would require more expensive equipment and protection gear.
8. Drones minimize the high cost and time required to erect ladders, access towers, swing stages, aerial lifts, and other heavy equipment. In addition, we will not have to hire or acquire ladders, heavy equipment and large pickup trucks for every inspection. Since the job takes less time, it means that we can inspect more assets in one day.
9. If there is an emergency around the city or where it is difficult for humans to reach, we can use drone to get information.
10. Lastly, it can be used for moviemaking on events like, wedding, birthdays etc as well as can be used for videography in tourism for advertisements.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

Frame	We have used central frame and all the components are integrated on this frame. The frame contains six arms and weighs 324gm.
Motors	Six BLDC Motor Racer Star 1000 KV motors are used each of which is connected to a propeller on one side and on other side it is connected to ESC for speed controlling.
ESC (Electronic Speed Controllers)	ESCs are used to control the speed of motors. To move the drone in forward direction speed of thee front motors is increase and vice versa.
Range of Drone	The drone will cover the range of 200 meters on all sides of initial point which is set on position of controlling device.
Frequency	To connect the drone with mobile device we have used 2.4 GHz frequency.
Battery	We have used LIPO 3300mAh battery which has voltage capacity of 11.1 volt. This will last for 30 minutes during continuous operation. We have used this battery to be less expensive, but using more good batteries the timing can be increased effectively.
Camera	A wifi enabled digital camera is connected with drone for making video and pictures. A single picture size is 1 MB in our camera. We are using 4 GB memory card in it which can store 4000 pictures or 1 hour of video.
Altitude	The drone can achieve the maximum altitude of 50 meters.

Frame

Motors

ESC (Electronic Speed Controllers)

Range of Drone

Frequency

Battery

Camera

Altitude

Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemType of Industry Others , Security , Telecommunication Technologies Artificial Intelligence(AI), RoboticsSustainable Development Goals Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Climate Action, Life on Land, Partnerships to achieve the GoalRequired Resources

Elapsed time in (days or weeks or month or quarter) since start of the project	Milestone	Deliverable
Month 1	Literature Review	Research about drones and their benefits
Month 2	Construction of Drone	Starting constructing drone.
Month 3	Simulation	Starting programming on mission planner software.
Month 4	Testing of Project	Initial testing of drone around different sites of campus.
Month 5	Thesis writing	Writing thesis about whole project.