Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
29 Automatic Drone Wireless Charging Station
Jason Wuerffel
Pranshu Teckchandani
Samuel Fakunle
Matthew Qi design_document1.pdf
design_document2.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
photo1.jpeg
photo2.jpeg
presentation1.pdf
proposal2.pdf
proposal1.pdf
video
# Title
**Automatic Drone Wireless Charging Station**

Team Members:
- Samuel Fakunle (sof2)
- Pranshu Teckchandani (pat4)
- Jason Wuerffel (jasonmw2)

# Problem

Drone technology is becoming more vital for our modern society because it improves productivity and precision for several applications. Despite this, the operation time continues to be a key technological challenge because of the drone’s battery life limitations. As a result, our project aims to address this issue by implementing an automated drone charging system that extends the drone’s flight time without human intervention.

# Solution

Our group aims to use resonant inductive coupling to develop a wireless drone charging station that allows the drone to land and charge its battery within an acceptable distance from the transmitter. In addition, our implementation should allow for efficient charging anywhere or in multiple locations on the charging pad, indicate when sufficient charging has been completed, and should start power transfer only when the drone lands on the pad. We may also add an optional feature where the drone can track back to the pad when low on battery but it is an additional feature we will implement only if time permits.

# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1: DC-AC Converter to Transmission Coil

This inverter is responsible for converting DC power to AC power for the activated transmitting coil

- Circuit consisting of resistors, capacitors, inductors, switches, etc.
- Could use renewable power supply or power bank (undecided)


## Subsystem 2: Transmitting and Receiving Coil for Charging

This subsystem focuses on the coils used in order for contact to be made between the drone and charging station.

- Both coils made of metal (likely aluminum or copper)
- Transmitting coil keeps the drone an adequate distance above the ground and is constrained by the size of the drone
- Receiving coil attached to drone acts as secondary part of transformer
- Charging pad made up of several transmitting coils to allow for no need for precise landing
- Microcontroller will be used to determine the optimal transmitting coil from the transmitting coil array on the charging pad in order to achieve maximum efficiency. This would be done by calculating each coil’s input impedance, and then activating the coil that results in the highest input impedance. The microcontroller will indicate when charging is complete using an LED indicator
- If time permits, we could develop an app that shows charging progress of the drone

Microcontroller: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/espressif-systems/ESP32-DEVKITC-VIE/12091811?utm_adgroup=&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PMax%20Shopping_Product_Low%20ROAS%20Categories&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_id=go_cmp-20243063506_adg-_ad-__dev-c_ext-_prd-12091811_sig-CjwKCAiA8NKtBhBtEiwAq5aX2Nvf7wYlrJvAtHab7cw0ecC0E7rdqjRA_Iy8-0jjQLlCNVKipQhMVRoCslsQAvD_BwE&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA8NKtBhBtEiwAq5aX2Nvf7wYlrJvAtHab7cw0ecC0E7rdqjRA_Iy8-0jjQLlCNVKipQhMVRoCslsQAvD_BwE


## Subsystem 3: AC-DC Converter

This subsystem includes a full bridge rectifying circuit with a low pass filter. Converts AC power from the receiving coil to DC power for the voltage regulator

- Circuit consists of resistors, diodes, capacitors, inductors, etc.

## Subsystem 4: Voltage regulator

This subsystem will be a voltage regulator responsible for supplying regulated DC power to the drone’s battery.

## OPTIONAL(IF TIME PERMITS) - Subsystem 5: Drone Control System

This subsystem includes the sensors that allow the drone to find its way back to the charging station.

- Proximity sensors for drone to know when it is close to charging station
- Low battery indicator
- Tracking tags and camera to detect the charging station

Proximity Sensor - https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/sharp-socle-technology/GP2Y0E02B/4103879?utm_adgroup=&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PMax%20Shopping_Product_High%20ROAS%20Categories&utm_term=&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA8NKtBhBtEiwAq5aX2OJn1KocKkbImYp4gjIzr5wiMJSYczVw6uVYCuu517q7w6XyPQFocxoCQjMQAvD_BwE

# Criterion For Success - Base Project

1. Successful Conversion: Converter circuits are able to correctly convert DC to AC and vice versa.
2. Wireless Power Transfer: Charging pad is able to charge the drone efficiently without human intervention. We will have a lower bound for acceptable efficiency.
3. Battery Indicator : The charging pad indicates when the battery is completely charged.
4. Charging only in close proximity: Start charging only when the charging pad detects that the drone is in close proximity.

If do complete the above criteria in time, we will try to accomplish the following:

- (Optional) Navigational Success: Drone is able to navigate to the charging station and dock.

Phone Audio FM Transmitter

Madigan Carroll, Dan Piper, James Wozniak

Phone Audio FM Transmitter

Featured Project

# Phone Audio FM Transmitter

Team Members:

James Wozniak (jamesaw)

Madigan Carroll (mac18)

Dan Piper (depiper2)

# Problem

In cars with older stereo systems, there are no easy ways to play music from your phone as the car lacks Bluetooth or other audio connections. There exist small FM transmitters that circumvent this problem by broadcasting the phone audio on some given FM wavelength. The main issue with these is that they must be manually tuned to find an open wavelength, a process not easily or safely done while driving.

# Solution

Our solution is to build upon these preexisting devices, but add the functionality of automatically switching the transmitter’s frequency, creating a safer and more enjoyable experience. For this to work, several components are needed: a Bluetooth connection to send audio signals from the phone to the device, an FM receiver and processing unit to find the best wavelength to transmit on, and an FM transmitter to send the audio signals to be received by the car stereo.

# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1 - Bluetooth Interface

This system connects the user’s phone, or other bluetooth device to our project. It should be a standalone module that handles all the bluetooth functions, and outputs an audio signal that will be modulated and transmitted by the FM Transmitter. Note: this subsystem may be included in the microcontroller.

## Subsystem 2 - FM Transmitter

This module will transmit the audio signal output by our bluetooth module. It will modulate the signal to FM frequency chosen by the control system. Therefore, the transmitting frequency must be able to be tuned electronically.

## Subsystem 3 - FM Receiver

This module will receive an FM signal. It must be able to be adjusted electronically (not with a mechanical potentiometer) with a signal from the control system. It does not need to fully demodulate the signal, as we only need to measure the power in the signal. Note: if may choose to have a single transceiver, in which case the receiver subsystem and the transmitter subsystem will be combined into a single subsystem.

## Subsystem 4 - Control System

The control system will consist of a microcontroller and surrounding circuitry, capable of reading the power output of the FM receiver, and outputting a signal to adjust the receiving frequency, in order to scan the FM band. We will write and upload a program to determine the most suitable frequency. It will then output a signal to the FM transmitter to adjust the transmitting frequency to the band determined above. We are planning on using the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 microcontroller given its built-in Bluetooth module and low power usage.

## Subsystem 5 - Power

Our device is designed to be used in a car, so It must be able to be powered by a standard automobile auxiliary power outlet which provides 12-13V DC and usually at least 100W. This should be more than sufficient. We plan to purchase a connector that can be plugged into this port, with leads that we can wire to our circuit.

# Criterion for Success

The device can pair with a phone via bluetooth and receive an audio signal from a phone.

The Device transmits an FM signal capable of being detected by a standard fm radio

The Device can receive FM signals and scan the FM bands.

The digital algorithm is able to compare the strength of different channels and determine the optimal channel.

The device is able to automatically switch the transmitting channel to the predetermined best channel when the user pushes a button.