QuadDeliver
A food delivery system using quadcopters
Submitted by:
Brendan Kane
Michael Gordon
Mohammed Almugren
Ryan Richard
Submitted to:
EE 300W
Section 003
Timothy Wheeler
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department
Pennsylvania State University
9/14/2016
Abstract:
Considering the high demand of food delivery for college students and the
need for saving time and money, "QuadDeliver" will offer faster, cheaper
and more efficient delivery system using drones.
Introduction:
Evidence of the growing food delivery market can be seen around State
College every day. This growing market brings on the need for a faster,
less harmful to the environment, and more efficient way to deliver food to
customers. QuadDeliver achieves all of the goals by decreasing delivery
time as the quadcopters will be able to complete the delivery process much
faster than a delivery driver can. A single quadcopter will also be assigned
to a singular order, while a delivery driver may be assigned to pick up a few
food orders before delivery to save on gas. QuadDeliver will also reduce
the number of cars on the road therefore decreasing carbon emissions and
saving nonrenewable resources. The quadcopter delivery system will be
efficient as it will simply need to be charged and the occasional
maintenance, eradicating the need to pay for a driver and the gas of the
delivery vehicle.
QuadDeliver will be used by the popular company, OrderUp, to handle
deliveries on a regular basis. The orders will be processed through the
OrderUp website and our system will process the orders and make
deliveries as needed.
The main hurdle we must overcome with our QuadDeliver system are the
set of the laws on drones. Right now, in Pennsylvania, a drone pilot must
be in eyesight of the drone itself, creating an issue if deliveries are to be
made around state college. But as our technology progresses, a
centralized computer that controls and tracks the location of all the drones
in the system will prove to be a safe and reliable way to call for a change
on these laws.
Rationale:
Successful food delivery is contingent upon speed, cost effectiveness and
navigation.
QuadDeliver revolves around these three business principles.
QuadDeliver’s service is more efficient than standard delivery service via
automotive. By flying, rather than driving, goods can be more easily
transported since they are not susceptible to traffic and route restrictions.
The cost of buying and owning quadcopters is a fraction of the price of
automotive maintenance, insurance, driver costs, gasoline costs and other
errors. Lastly, navigation is at the core of delivery. By programmatically
incorporating navigation/GPS into QuadDeliver, all confusion concerning
driving to the proper address and the purchase of unnecessary equipment
is eliminated.
Implementation:
A purchase is made through the OrderUp system. Information is collected
from the customer, namely the local address, phone number and food
order.
The local address and phone number of the customer is automatically
transferred to the control mainframe - custom software developed on
LabVIEW used to coordinate the quadcopters. This information is then
passed onto the quadcopter micro-controller (Arduino Uno) and GPS
module (Sparkfun Venus GPS with SMA connector).
Each quadcopter will have an attachable modification that allows the
quadcopter to haul different sized loads - the maximum volume being 1 foot
cubed and maximum weight being 5 pounds. Once the load is added and
fitted to the modification accordingly, the owner of the store/controller will
press the appropriate button on the control mainframe allowing that specific
quadcopter to begin its course.
The quadcopter will intake the address of the customer and navigate to the
destination. Each quadcopter will operate within a 2 mile radius of the main
control system. Hauling heavy loads at long distances will require each
quadcopter to have a 5000mA/h 4 cell, 14.8V lithium polymer (LiPo)
battery.
When the quadcopter arrives at the location, the control mainframe will be
alerted and a text message will be sent to the customer, telling them that
the delivery has been made.
The quadcopter will then return to the store/base and recharge until the
next order comes.
Conclusion:
Fiscal dependence on food delivery drivers and their vehicles combined
with the high demand of food delivery for college students made
"QuadDeliver" a great delivery service. It is more efficient than traditional
delivery systems by reducing the delivery time. Furthermore, "QuadDeliver"
saves money to restaurants, thereby reducing the cost of the delivery.
Appendices:
Appendix A: High-Level Functional Decomposition
Description of the Input and Output Conditions:
Input Conditions
Output Conditions
College town without access to cheap,
efficient, and fast food delivery system
Convenient access to food through the use of
QuadDeliver
High level of congestion on streets due to
food deliveries
Cheaper food delivery system
Fiscal dependence on food delivery drivers
and the maintaining of their vehicles
Improved company efficiency
Appendix B: 230Si Quadcopter Specification Sheet
Product Specifications:
Size:
Motors:
Empty Weight:
Weight RTF:
Blade Length:
Overall Length:
Height:
Width:
230mm (9.05") Quadcopter
20×8 Coreless (4)
96.1g (3.39oz) 100.8g with camera
127.3g (4.49oz) 132.0g with camera
144mm (5.67")
306mm (12.05")
75mm (2.95")
306mm (12.05")
Camera Specications:
Memory:
Size:
Video:
Codec Audio:
Still Image capture:
Accepts MicroSD card (up to 32G)
40mm×20mm×8mm L×W×H Codec
Motion JPEG, 1280×720, 30fps, file extension .avi
PCM S16 LE, mono
1280x720, 96 dpi, file extension .jpg
Appendix C: SparkFun Venus GPS with SMA Connector
Technical Features:
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Supports 20Hz update rate
-148dBm cold start sensitivity
-165dBm tracking sensitivity
29 second cold start TTFF
3.5 second TTFF with AGPS
1 second hot start
2.5m accuracy
Multipath detection and suppression
Jamming detection and mitigation
SBAS (WAAS / EGNOS) support
67 mW full power navigation
Works directly with active or passive antenna
Internal flash for optional 75K point data logging
Supports external SPI flash memory data logging
Complete receiver in 10mm x 10mm x 1.3mm size
Contains LNA, SAW Filter, TCXO, RTC Xtal, LDO
Single 2.7-3.3V supply
Dimensions: ​1.15 x 0.7 inches
Appendix D: Arduino Uno Microcontroller
Technical Specifications:
Microcontroller
Operating Voltage
Supply Voltage (recommended)
Maximum supply voltage (not recommended)
Digital I/O Pins
Analog Input Pins
DC Current per I/O Pin
DC Current for 3.3V Pin
Flash Memory
SRAM
EEPROM
Clock Speed
ATmega328
5V
7-12V
20V
14 (of which 6 provide PWM output)
6
40 mA
50 mA
32 KB (ATmega328)
2 KB (ATmega328)
1 KB (ATmega328)
16 MHz
​Appendix E: Turnigy 5000mAh 4S 30C LiPo Pack
Technical Specifications:
Minimum Capacity:
Configuration:
Constant Discharge:
Peak Discharge (10sec):
Pack Weight:
Pack Size:
Charge Plug:
Discharge plug:
5000mAh
4S1P / 14.8v / 4Cell
30C
40C
556g
144 x 49 x 36mm
JST-XH
5.5mm Bullet-connector