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Lab

Airframe Explorer

An interactive schematic of the quadrotor from my final year project. Orbit it, then select a marker to see what the component is, what it talks to, and whether it actually exists yet.

The geometry is generated procedurally from primitives rather than loaded from a mesh file — it costs a few kilobytes instead of megabytes, and it stays editable as code while the real build changes. Read it as a schematic, not a render.

Select a numbered marker to inspect a component.

Component reference

01

NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano 8GB

On hand
AI performance
Up to 67 TOPS
GPU
1024-core Ampere, 32 Tensor Cores
CPU
6-core Arm Cortex-A78AE
Memory
8 GB 128-bit LPDDR5
Power
7–25 W configurable

Connections

  • Depth camera over USB 3.0 — the perception loop closes here, onboard
  • Flight controller over UART, publishing setpoints
  • Powered from the 5 V regulated rail, not the raw battery

Status

Already owned. This is the pivot point of the whole design — enough compute to run depth processing and navigation onboard, which means the aircraft does not depend on a radio link to stay alive.

02

Orbbec Gemini 336

On hand
Depth range
0.10–20 m (optimal 0.26–3 m)
Depth stream
Up to 1280×800 @ 30 fps
RGB stream
Up to 1920×1080 @ 30 fps
Depth FOV
H 90° × V 65°
Interface
USB 3.0 Type-C
Mass
99 g

Connections

  • USB 3.0 to the Orin Nano — depth and RGB both land on the compute module
  • Rigidly mounted to the forward frame so the camera-to-body transform stays fixed

Status

Already owned. Stereo rather than structured light, which is what makes it usable outdoors as well as indoors.

03

Laser-cut carbon fibre airframe

Designed
Material
Carbon fibre sheet, laser cut
Configuration
X quadrotor
Non-structural parts
3D printed mounts and brackets

Connections

  • Carries every other component — the mass budget here arbitrates the whole design
  • Stiffness directly sets the vibration floor the state estimator has to live with

Status

Design settled, not yet cut. A 3D-printed frame was the original plan and was rejected: for the stiffness required it came out both too heavy and too weak against carbon fibre. 3D printing kept only for non-structural mounts, where its geometric freedom actually pays.

04

AIR 2216 / KV920 × 4

Sourcing
KV rating
920 KV
Stator
2216
Quantity
4

Connections

  • Each motor driven by its own ESC from the raw battery rail
  • ESC signal lines run back to the flight controller

Status

One motor on hand; the remaining three still to source. Sizing is being worked against the mass budget the carbon frame and the Orin Nano impose — this is the current open work.

05

Battery and power distribution

Undecided
Chemistry
LiPo
Capacity
To be set by the flight-time target
Rails
Raw pack to ESCs, regulated 5 V to compute

Connections

  • Raw pack voltage to the four ESCs
  • Regulated 5 V rail to the Orin Nano and flight controller
  • Pack mass is the largest single line in the mass budget after the frame

Status

Not yet specified. Capacity is a direct trade against endurance and all-up mass, and it cannot be settled until propulsion sizing lands.

06

Flight controller

Undecided
Firmware
PX4 (planned)
Role
Attitude and rate control
Sensors
IMU, barometer

Connections

  • Receives setpoints from the Orin Nano over UART
  • Drives the four ESCs directly
  • Runs the fast inner loop the companion computer deliberately stays out of

Status

Board not yet chosen. PX4 is the intended firmware, which keeps the ROS 2 bridging path standard.