NOVA.DroneArena: design and control of a low-cost drone testbed

Abstract

In order to improve the development of unmanned aerial vehicles it is mandatory to make, not only virtual simulations using proper software, but also real experimental trials. Furthermore, to enable rapid prototyping, a controlled environment with all the necessary hardware and software must be thoroughly prepared. The creation of a testbed will solve this need and that is precisely the objective of this article, allowing future drone developments in NOVA School of Science and Technology. In order to be able to follow the trajectory of the drone and ensure that its position is known with a considerable accuracy and low latency, the testbed will rely on Marvelmind Indoor Navigation System. Regarding this system and so that it was possible to have an idea of how accurate it can be, a series of experiments were done with the objective of achieving the best configuration out of it. Furthermore, it is shown that it can be integrated with an autopilot module, in this case PX4 Mini was used. Consequently, so that the communication was as fast and reliable as possible, a Wi-Fi module was used, namely ESP2866. The testbed is then validated by conducting a simple experimental trial inside its perimeter.