The feature image for the project Revolutionizing Transportation: A Passenger-Carrying Drone.
The feature image for the project Revolutionizing Transportation: A Passenger-Carrying Drone.
The feature image for the project Revolutionizing Transportation: A Passenger-Carrying Drone.
The feature image for the project Revolutionizing Transportation: A Passenger-Carrying Drone.

ENGINEERING GROUP PROJECT | 2024

Revolutionizing Transportation: A Passenger-Carrying Drone

A two-track engineering project that designed a full-scale passenger eVTOL drone on paper and built a scaled-down hexacopter prototype from scratch — validating flight physics, control systems, and structural design through real-world testing.

MATLAB Simulink
SolidWorks
ArduPilot
Mission Planner
Pixhawk
3D Printing

OVERVIEW

A Taylor's University final-year engineering group project tackling passenger drone design from two angles simultaneously: a comprehensive paper design of a full-scale eVTOL capable of carrying 160 kg, and a functional F550 hexacopter prototype built to validate the underlying physics and control systems at scale. The prototype used a Pixhawk flight controller running ArduPilot firmware, calibrated and monitored through Mission Planner, with MATLAB Simulink providing a 3D digital twin environment to simulate stability before physical testing. Flight endurance testing achieved 15.27 minutes of hover time, within 8.7% of the calculated 16.73-minute estimate.

IMPLEMENTATION

TECH STACK

Simulation

MATLAB Simulink

Modelling

SolidWorks

Flight controller

Pixhawk 2.4.8, ArduPilot firmware

Ground control

Mission Planner

Frame

F550 hexacopter

Propulsion

A2216 880KV BLDC motors, Hobbywing Skywalker 30A ESC

Power

3S 10000mAh 30C LiPo battery

RC link

Jumper T-Lite V2 transmitter (ExpressLRS 2.4GHz), Radiomaster RP1 V2 receiver

Telemetry

Holybro Telemetry Radio V3 (433MHz)

Manufacturing

3D printing (PLA)

FEATURES

Full-scale passenger eVTOL paper design — 160 kg payload capacity, hexacopter configuration for motor redundancy

Scaled-down F550 hexacopter prototype — 72:1 mass ratio to passenger drone, built and flight-tested

MATLAB Simulink 3D digital twin — CoG analysis and flight stability simulation before physical build

SolidWorks 3D modelling of both drone configurations, imported directly into Simulink

Pixhawk 2.4.8 + ArduPilot flight controller with 5-condition failsafe system (radio, battery, GCS, EKF, vibration)

CRSF-to-PWM protocol bridging via ArduPilot firmware parameter configuration

Holybro 433 MHz telemetry link for real-time ground control during flight

3D-printed aerodynamic housing designed in collaboration with a partnered ME team

Flight endurance test achieving 15.27 min hover — 8.7% deviation from calculated 16.73 min estimate

CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS

Centre of gravity imbalance in original custom frame

The initial custom frame design failed CoG analysis in MATLAB Simulink — the forward-heavy mass distribution caused a forward flip during simulation. Differential motor speed compensation was applied as a workaround, but this introduced unintended yaw rotation. The root cause was resolved by switching to the F550 hexacopter frame, whose symmetric arm geometry naturally centred the payload and eliminated both issues without software compensation.

RC protocol incompatibility between transmitter and flight controller

The Jumper T-Lite V2 transmitter uses the CRSF protocol, while the Pixhawk 2.4.8 flight controller expects PWM input. Direct connection produced no response. The fix was applying ArduPilot's built-in CRSF protocol bridge — by configuring the correct serial port parameters in the firmware (SERIAL_BAUD and SERIAL_PROTOCOL settings), ArduPilot translated incoming CRSF signals to PWM outputs, restoring full RC control without any additional hardware.

GPS magnetic interference and persistent signal loss

The GPS module suffered persistent magnetic interference from the ESCs and power distribution board, causing unreliable lock and compass errors throughout testing. Elevating the GPS on a dedicated mast provided partial relief by increasing distance from interference sources, but lock quality remained inconsistent. RTL (Return-to-Launch) failsafe mode was disabled as a result — GPS-dependent autonomous flight was deemed unreliable for safe failsafe operation, and all failsafe conditions defaulted to Land mode instead.