Perception and positioning
An Arducam autofocus camera supplied images for object and colour detection. An ultrasonic sensor added distance information, while the M9N GPS provided the position reference for surveying and flight navigation.
Rotatable view of the supplied UAV 1.0 assembly. The robotic arm and gripper are not included in this model.
Use your mouse or trackpad: drag to rotate, scroll to zoom.Drag to rotate. Pinch to zoom. With the model focused, use arrow keys to rotate, + or - to zoom, Home to reset, and Escape to leave the model.
- All-up weight
- 6–7 kg
- Flight time
- >20 min
- Thrust-to-weight
- 2:1
- Main battery
- 22 Ah
- Propellers
- 17 in
- Camera
- 64 MP
Design estimate
Design target
Design target
6S 25C LiPo
4 × carbon fibre
Arducam autofocus
How it works.
Propulsion and flight control
Four MN4014 motors and 17-inch propellers provided lift on a carbon-fibre X650 frame. The Pixhawk 6X ran PX4 flight control, adjusting motor outputs to manage the aircraft’s position and attitude.
Power and protection
A 6S pack supplied propulsion, with a separate battery for the payload. Water-activated flotation devices supported recovery after a water landing, and protective enclosures were designed for the onboard electronics.
Communications
Telemetry connected the aircraft to the ground station for status and mission control. A separate handheld radio provided manual takeover, and the video link let the team monitor the onboard computer during troubleshooting.
Onboard autonomy
A Raspberry Pi processed images with OpenCV and TensorFlow. The navigation design combined survey paths with visual landing markers, connecting perception and positioning to the Pixhawk’s flight-control functions.
Payload handling
A five-axis robotic arm carried a gripper adapted for small tins. The team revised the arm’s motion calculations to fit the X650 frame, with a servo controller coordinating the joints.
What’s on board.
Airframe
- Holybro X650 carbon-fibre frame
- Quadrotor configuration
Propulsion
- 4 × T-Motor MN4014 400 KV motors
- T-Motor NS17×5.8 carbon-fibre propellers
- T-Motor AIR 40A ESCs
Power system
- Tattu 6S 22,000 mAh LiPo main battery
- Elements 3S 6,200 mAh LiPo payload battery
- Holybro PM02D power module
Flight controller
- Holybro Pixhawk 6X
- PX4 autopilot with MAVLink
Navigation
- Holybro M9N GPS
- Visual markers for landing guidance
- Survey path planning
Onboard computer
- Raspberry Pi 4B, 8 GB
- Onboard image processing
Perception sensors
- Arducam 64 MP autofocus camera
- DFRobot SEN0001 ultrasonic sensor
Wireless communications
- Holybro SiK Telemetry Radio V3
- Holybro RP1 ELRS receiver
- RadioMaster TX16S Mark II pilot link
FPV and monitoring
- RUSH Solo Tank 5.8 GHz VTX, 1.6 W
- Foxeer Mini Predator 5 FPV camera
- Video link for ground monitoring
Manipulator and payload
- DFRobot five-axis robotic arm
- 16-channel servo controller
- Custom tin-gripping end effector
Software
- OpenCV and TensorFlow
- Object and colour detection
- Revised arm inverse kinematics
Safety and recovery
- Water-activated DroneRetriever flotation
- Protective electronics enclosures
- Manual takeover by radio or ground station
Continue with UAV 2.0.
Stereo vision, onboard GPU computing, LiDAR and a winch shaped the aircraft’s next role at SUAS 2025.