DIY Drone

 First Session

On 6/11/2025, we visited the Aerospace hangar to have our first meeting with Encik Zihad. We first learned about the safety features and precautions of flying a drone. Then, Encik Zihad showed us a prototype drone which is similar to what we are going to build, he introduced different parts of the drone and each of their functions. 

Encik Zihad then taught us how to install and uninstall the propeller of the drone, both DIY drone and the drone in the market (DJI drone). We spent about 2 hours there learning and understanding the basics of the drone, which is quite new for all of us. We appreciate Encik Zihad for his time to lecture us his drone knowledge.

Second Session

On 10/12/25, we had our second session with Encik Zihad in the Aerospace hangar. When we arrived there, we tried out the RC plane simulation with the guidance of Encik Zihad. We learned how to control the RC plane with the controller and every function of it. It was a new experience for us who never tried out the simulator.

After that, Encik Zihad taught us about the Ground Control Station (GCS) and the mission planner before we dive into the Ardupilot firmware. There were some important notes and information that we have to jot down also.

Soon, Encik Zihad helped us to install the Ardupilot Firmware, which is crucial for the drone. It is an open-source autopilot software used as the main control system of a drone. It processes data from onboard sensors to stabilize the drone, control its movement, and enable different flight modes such as manual, assisted, and fully autonomous flight. With that, we gained some knowledge about Ardupilot, Encik Zihad also encouraged us to try it out ourselves at home.

Third Session

On 31/12/25, we assembled the drone with the guidance of Encik Zihad, installing the flight controller, propellers, batteries, buzzer and GPS. After that, using Mission Planner, we calibrated the remote controller, flight controller and GPS of the drone step by step following the handbook provided by Encik Zihad.

After the assembly and calibration of the drone is completed, we were finally able to have to first test flight. At first, there were some unexpected accidents happened that caused it to fail, but with our motivation to make it fly, we had gone through multiple ways to figure out the cause of the problem. After multiple tries, our drone finally made it through and performed pretty well. Big thanks to Encik Zihad who taught us every step and corrected our mistakes in order for us to reach our goal.

Fourth Session

On 5/1/2026, we had our first experience of controlling the drone with the remote control. First, we calibrated the remote control again just to ensure everything works well and made sure the batteries and the telemetries are well functioned. 

Soon, we tried flying the drone with Encik Zihad's guidance. A pilot and a ground control are required at least in order to fly the drone. That day, all of us tried flying the drone manually, moving in xy axis and landing. It was fun and satisfying as this is our first time flying a drone manually and we are going to do more researches and discoveries on the drone to add on more features and commands.