Design and construction of a low-cost remotely piloted aircraft for precision agriculture applications

摘要

This study aimed to construct a low cost RPA capable of recording georeferencedimages. For the construction of the prototype of a quadcopter type RPA, only essential materialswere used to allow stable flight. A maximum total weight of 2 kg was stipulated, including frameweight, electronic components, motors and cameras. The aircraft was programmed using alow-cost microcontroller widely used in prototyping and automation research. An electroniccircuit board is designed to facilitate the connection of the microcontroller with the othercomponents of the design. Specific software was used for flight control. The prototype was builtsuccessfully, being able to lift stable and controllable flight. However, we still need to acquireequipment and programming components capable of enabling autonomous images and flights.The final cost of the RPA was on average $ 427.00 on average 50% lower than the values foundin the Brazilian ARP market ($ 772.81 to $ 1,288.00).