BASEPLATE

This project has been a full ground-up quadcopter build in which I assembled the frame and integrated all major subsystems, including motors, ESCs, flight controller, receiver, and power distribution. I designed and soldered custom power connections, routed signal wiring, and made component placement decisions to reduce electrical noise and improve reliability. A significant portion of the work involved diagnosing power integrity issues, where I measured rail voltages under load, corrected poor solder joints, added and repositioned capacitors, and resolved receiver and FC brownouts caused by insufficient current delivery.

On the software side, I configured and validated the flight controller in Betaflight/INAV, verifying sensor alignment, FC orientation, UART assignments, receiver mapping, and arming logic. I methodically tested motor order and rotation, corrected ESC direction issues, and ensured proper CW/CCW propeller installation. Through ground tests and hover attempts, I analyzed instability issues such as oscillation, hopping, and yaw rotation near liftoff, ruling out configuration errors and narrowing the root cause to tuning, idle behavior, power delivery, or mechanical factors.

At its current stage, the quad is fully functional from a systems and control standpoint, with remaining work focused on optimization rather than basic setup. Ongoing efforts include investigating rapid battery drain, refining idle and throttle behavior, selecting more forgiving trainer propellers, and tuning the system for stable, efficient flight. The project has progressed from basic bring-up into deeper debugging and performance refinement, closely mirroring real-world UAV integration and test workflows.