Medication and Multipurpose Drone for Wildlife Conservation
Developed a hexacopter design proposal for wildlife surveillance and medication-support missions, combining Pixhawk flight control, a Raspberry Pi companion computer, and a tree-perching concept. Performance figures are design calculations.
Technical work
Engineering design study · Calculated performance
- Designed a hexacopter concept around a Pixhawk controller, Raspberry Pi companion computer, six motors, and a 30 Ah battery for wildlife-surveillance and medication-support missions.
- Produced CAD, circuit, and mission-planning designs incorporating a tree-perching claw and six ultrasonic sensors for proposed obstacle sensing.
- Calculated 40.54 minutes of ideal endurance from a 44.4 A propulsion-current estimate and 30 Ah capacity for an approximately 8.4 kg design.
Overview
The design uses wildlife conservation in Kaziranga as a mission context for a hexacopter with surveillance and medication-support concepts. The deliverables include CAD, component selection, circuit design, and propulsion/battery calculations.
The supplied presentation is a proposal. Flight testing, deployment in the park, medication delivery, and conservation outcomes are not established by these materials.
Problem Statement
The mission concept addresses the difficulty of monitoring wildlife and reaching injured animals in large, seasonally flooded areas.
- Remote surveillance could support anti-poaching patrols.
- Flooded or inaccessible terrain can delay observation and assistance.
- A perching mechanism could reduce propulsion use during stationary observation.
- Medical intervention would require separate field validation and veterinary operation.
Proposed Capabilities
Flight and sensing
- Pixhawk 2.4.8 and GPS waypoint planning form the proposed flight-control architecture.
- Six HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensors provide a proposed surround-sensing arrangement.
- An ideal 40.54-minute endurance is calculated from the selected battery and propulsion current; usable reserve and accessory loads need validation.
Perching and mission design
- A servo-controlled claw explores tree-branch perching for stationary observation.
- Wildlife monitoring, anti-poaching observation, safari assistance, and population tracking are proposed mission modes.
- Vision-based detection, injury assessment, and automatic alerts require implementation and field evaluation.
Design Specifications
Selected components and calculated values from the design presentation:
Hardware Components
- Frame: Custom hexacopter design (approximately 8.4 kg design mass)
- Motors: 6x TITAN T5010 300KV BLDC motors
- ESC: 6x 30A Electronic Speed Controllers
- Propellers: 18-inch with 6.5 pitch
- Battery: TATTU 30,000mAh 6S 25C LiPo
- Flight Controller: Pixhawk with buzzer and arming switch
- Onboard Computer: Raspberry Pi 4B+ (4GB RAM)
- Sensors: GPS (Ublox Neo M8N), 6x ultrasonic sensors; LiDAR is future scope
- Communication: VTX (specified 10 km range; unverified in this design), 5.8GHz FPV antenna
- Gripper: Custom servo-controlled claw mechanism
Calculated Performance and Cost
- Thrust-to-Weight Ratio: 1.2:1
- Total Thrust: 10,088.4 grams
- Current Draw: 44.4 A propulsion-current estimate
- Flight Time: 40.54 minutes calculated endurance
- Project Cost: ₹116,444.22 (design bill of materials)
Proposed Software Architecture
The design identifies the following software directions. The source materials do not demonstrate an integrated navigation or wildlife-detection implementation.
Mission planning
- ArduPilot/Pixhawk waypoint missions, with a companion-computer interface.
- Coverage planning and geotagged observations for a conservation operator.
Perception extensions
- An RGB detection pipeline could identify wildlife and record observation coordinates.
- Automated alerts and injury-assessment tools would require species-specific data and expert validation.
- LiDAR, SLAM, and ROS 2 integration are possible future extensions; no deployed Nav2 or YOLOv3 result is claimed.
Design Results & Validation Needed
- Produced an integrated hexacopter concept, parts selection, CAD, and mission architecture.
- Calculated ideal endurance as 30 Ah ÷ 44.4 A × 60 ≈ 40.54 minutes.
- Estimated system cost at ₹116,444.22 in the design bill of materials.
- Flight time, payload effects, reserve margin, obstacle sensing, and perching stability need measured tests.
- Coverage area, surveillance extension, and wildlife outcomes remain unmeasured.
Technologies Considered
- Pixhawk / ArduPilot, GPS waypoint navigation, Raspberry Pi companion computer.
- Six-motor electric propulsion, LiPo battery sizing, servo actuation, and ultrasonic sensing.
- CAD and circuit design for the platform and perching mechanism.
- Computer vision, LiDAR, and SLAM are extension areas rather than reported deployed capabilities.