Perception and positioning
The ZED 2i provided stereo images and depth for detection and mapping. An LD-06 LiDAR measured nearby obstacles, while the M9N GPS and flight-controller sensors supplied the aircraft’s navigation state.
Rotatable view of the supplied UAV 2.0 STEP assembly, with materials guided by the team's photographs.
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
- 7 kg
- Flight time
- 18 min
- Maximum speed
- 20.1 m/s
- Thrust-to-weight
- 2:1
- Static thrust
- 13.2 kgf
- Main battery
- 22 Ah
As built
Validated, after reserve
TDR-reported
Approximate
From 4 × 3.3 kgf
6S 22.2 V LiPo
How it works.
What changed from UAV 1.0
Stereo vision, onboard GPU computing and a scanning LiDAR expanded the aircraft’s perception. A servo winch replaced the arm for controlled payload delivery, while a partially enclosed electronics package supported the new SUAS build.
Propulsion and flight control
The X650 V2 frame folded for transport. Four MN4014 motors drove 17-inch propellers, while PX4 combined position and attitude feedback in the Pixhawk 6X to make coordinated motor adjustments.
Payload handling
A servo-driven winch lowered the payload on a tether instead of releasing it from flight altitude. The onboard computer triggered the mechanism, with a constrained drum controlling how the tether paid out.
Power distribution
Four power branches served propulsion, flight control, the winch and the onboard computer. Separate 5 V and 12 V regulation matched each load, allowing the flight controller and payload electronics to share one battery.
Communications
SiK telemetry carried flight status and commands between the aircraft and ground station. An ELRS radio provided pilot control, while a 4G modem gave the team remote access to mission scripts and perception results.
Onboard autonomy
The Jetson ran YOLOv8 detection and a customised mapping pipeline. MAVROS linked these mission functions to the flight controller; the navigation design also used stereo-visual positioning to compensate for GPS drift.
What’s on board.
Airframe
- Holybro X650 V2 carbon-fibre frame
- Quadrotor configuration
- Disassembles for suitcase transport
Propulsion
- 4 × T-Motor MN4014 400 KV motors
- T-Motor 17×5.8 carbon-fibre propellers
- 4 × T-Motor AIR 40A ESCs
Power system
- Tattu 6S 22,000 mAh 25C LiPo
- Holybro PM02D and 5 V flight-control supply
- 12 V, 5 A conversion for computer and winch
Flight controller
- Holybro Pixhawk 6X v2A
- PX4 with cascaded P–PID control
- EKF state estimation
Navigation
- Holybro M9N GPS with IST8310 compass
- Stereo-visual SLAM for GPS drift correction
- Pixhawk inertial and barometric sensing
Onboard computer
- NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX, 16 GB
- 1024-core Ampere GPU
- 128 GB SSD
Vision system
- Stereolabs ZED 2i with polariser
- 4 mm lenses
- Stereo depth and 3D point clouds
Obstacle avoidance
- LDRobot LD-06, 360° 2D LiDAR
- Up to 12 m range and 4,500 points/s
- Local Planner with a 3D cost map
Wireless communications
- Holybro SiK V3 telemetry, 433 MHz
- TX16S Mark II pilot link with RP1 ELRS
- Waveshare SIM7600G-H 4G modem
Winch and payload
- Waveshare ST3215-HS servo
- Waveshare Serial Bus Servo Driver Board
- Custom winch with 50 mm drum radius
Software
- MAVLink and MAVROS companion link
- YOLOv8 object detection
- Custom aerial mapping algorithm
Continue with UAV 3.0.
Waterproof motors, a fully enclosed electronics package and a new gripper prepare the next aircraft for RobotX 2026.