Written Resources

Design Methods Reference Books

"Electronics, Project Management and Design", by D. Joseph Stadtmiller, published by Prentice Hall, 2001.
(Paperback w/ CD-ROM: ISBN 0-13-012729-9)

"Engineering Design Methods", by Nigel Cross, published by Wiley
(ISBN 0-471-94228-6)

"Engineering Design for Electrical Engineers" by Alan D. Wilcox, published by Prentice Hall
(ISBN 0-13-278136-0)

"Strategies for Creative Problem Solving" by H. Scott Fogler and Steven E. LeBlanc, published by Prentice Hall
(ISBN 0-13-179318-7)

Sensors and Instrumentation Reference Books

"Measurement, Instrumentation and Sensors Handbook", ed. John Webster, published by CRC Press and IEEE Press, 1999.
(ISBN 0-8493-8347-1)

"Electronic Instrument Handbook", by Clyde Coombs, published by McGraw Hill, 1999.
(Hardcover: ISBN 0071350160, Paperback: ISBN 007026186)

"Capacitive Sensors", by L. Baxter, IEEE Series on Electronic Technology, 1997.
(ISBN 0-7803-1130-2)

High Speed Design Issues

High Speed Digital Design: A Handbook of Black Magic by Howard W. Johnson & Martin Graham, published by Prentice Hall
(ISBN 0-13-395724-1)

Propeller-less Multi-rotor

Ignacio Aguirre Panadero, Bree Peng, Leo Yamamae

Propeller-less Multi-rotor

Featured Project

Our project explored the every-expanding field of drones. We wanted to solve a problem with the dangers of plastic propellers as well as explore new method of propulsion for drones.

Our design uses a centrifugal fan design inspired by Samm Shepard's "This is NOT a Propeller" video where he created a centrifugal fan for a radio controlled plane. We were able to design a fan that has a peak output of 550g per fan that is safe when crashing and when the impeller inside damaged.

The chassis and fans are made of laser-cut polystyrene and is powered using brushless motors typically used for radio-controlled helicopters.

The drone uses an Arduino DUE with a custom shield and a PCB to control the system via Electronic Speed Controllers. The drone also has a feedback loop that will try to level the drone using a MPU6050.

We were able to prove that this method of drone propulsion is possible and is safer than using hard plastic propellers.

Project Videos