Grant Project Reflection: Project Aerial Camera Drone

The blog post was written by Junwoo Kim ‘27. Through the 2024 Spring Semester and Summer, he received a $300 Co-Lab Innovation Grant.

The purpose of Project Aerial was to create a reliable, cost-effective camera drone. A reliable camera drone is durable, has a clear video and camera quality, and a long battery life. Unfortunately, even the cheapest drones cost above $500 drones, making it unavailable for many people interested in getting into drone photography and videography.

Design

The preliminary designs were sketched using the iPad app GoodNotes, starting with an overall design then a “skeleton” layer design that would integrate the circuitry and motors with the chassis and exterior.

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Prototyping

The main skills I employed during the construction of the drone was CADing (SolidWorks) to design the exterior and chassis of the drone; soldering to connect electrical components together, and lasercutting to protect sensitive electronics.

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Reflection

Although the drone was successfully constructed and managed to take stunning photos and videos in certain situations, less-than-ideal situations like rainy and windy conditions greatly affected drone stability and, by relation, photo and video quality.

With help from the connections I’ve made during the first iteration of the drone, I intend to find a solution to these issues and create an innovative new drone with features that greatly improve on the current prototype.

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