Senior Year Update

It’s been a while

I haven’t been able to post in a while because I’ve been busy, I still am. Last year I took a more challenging course load with AP Calc AB, AP Physics 2, and AP Bio being highlights of it. I continued flying my inductrix and purchased a VelociDrone license to practice flying FPV. I really like VelociDrone, because it has a more realistic feel to it than other simulators. The physics behind it are pretty accurate and I can even use a USB adapter to control the simulator from my usual radio. Which is super cool!

In the spring I applied for an internship at SIMR (Stanford Institute of Medical Research). I was accepted as part of the BioEngineering internship a few weeks later and I was then sent a survey in which I ranked my project interests. Based on my project interest ranking I was placed into a team. My team’s project area was Biomechanics and over the 8 week internship we created our product: ReBoot. ReBoot was designed as an alternative to casts and crutches, helping people with lower leg injuries recover without being intrusive to everyday movements. ReBoot features depressible cushions which relieve pressure while walking. The depressible cushions give users a better feel for the ground and a more natural walking motion during their healing process. As part of the internship, we had great mentors and we had access to many of Stanford’s resources, one of which being their Product Realization Lab or PRL. The PRL was the main place we worked on our prototype. As part of our prototyping we made a foot-pressure mapping demo which I spearheaded. The demo took pressure readouts from 5 pressure sensors placed on various parts of the foot and converted them to a nice visual. I spent a lot of time soldering the pressure sensors and making the code behind the visual. At the end of our internship we had a poster session where we presented our poster. In summary, the internship was awesome! I had a great time, learned a lot, and made a bunch of connections! Below I have included a picture of myself on the day of the poster session and the Team ReBoot poster.

Marvel Vision Goggles + Eachine ProDVR

THIS is what I've been working on! Buying and adding a DVR to my FPV Goggles in order to record flights! Here's a video presenting my work.....

Quarter 3 update

Preparing for showcase

Since my last post not everything has worked out the way I wanted it to. I haven’t been able to put up a review for my U32 or any flight tutorials. Although time has been sparse, on a positive note I was able to make some time-efficient investments. I took money from a gofundme I made during the summer and used it to set up my own official workspace. In the picture below there’s a magnifying lamp, a new soldering iron, a table that’s covered so it’s easy to remove dust from it, and a few boxes for organization. Other items that aren’t in the picture that I purchased include a vise and a 22 inch cantilever professional toolbox.

The last and biggest move I made was buying myself a Full RTF Upgraded FPV Inductrix Kit with Goggles from Kados Micro Motors. The inductrix kit is set with everything I need to get “introduced” to FPV flight. It has 5.8GHz goggles, a 4 channel transmitter, 65000RPM installed Chaoli fast motors, FTX 798T 40CH micro camera with flexible antenna, 1 Kados 210mah 30c to 60c .78wh battery, and a FPV camera. Everything is ready to go, soldered and mounted into place. The next step is to put up a quick unboxing video then possibly some flight videos.

      

RC flight updated and adjusted

Progress

Since my first post I have taken many steps forward in order to prepare for the I2 showcase. I have been forced to make adjustments to my calendar, due to how challenging FPV (First Person View) flight is. So far, I have practiced flying FPV with my new quad and FPV Freerider Free. I continued flying from a 3rd person perspective, learning and practicing to hover from different perspectives (having the drone face sideways and inwards in relation to me rather than always outward) and how to properly “bank turn”. Bank turning isn’t your average “yaw” turn, in simpler terms it is a term “using only the rudder”. A bank turn requires you to simultaneously use the roll (control of movement from side to side or aileron) and yaw (control of the rudder) while moving forward. I have also begun testing a hexacopter in compliment to my U32 and Q4. I also was gifted a GoPro Hero 3 by my mother’s gracious friend to go with my Hero 3+ to make tutorials with. Along with all of this I used the tools at Maker Club to turn a milk crate into a quad case.

Below is my updated timeline showing progress and changes:

Key: 🗸 - Completed 🗸 - Completed (addition to timeline) ❎ - Moved back/canceled

September	Set up my new quad’s FPV system🗸
October	Begin flying my quad FPV🗸 Practice bank turns and hovering (3rd person view)🗸 Monetize my youtube channel🗸
November	Start flying my new airplane while❎ continuing to fly my FPV quad 🗸 Continue hovering and bank turn practice🗸
Up To This Point: 11/28 🏴	Past ↥ Present. 🏴 Future ↧
December	Give a review for my U32.
January	Upload an intro video on Quadcopters.
February	Basic controls tutorial.
March	Hovering tutorial.
April	Put up a few videos showing my progress flying FPV.

Year 2 : RC Flight

Big Goal

Up to this point I’ve learned how to fly quadcopters looking on from a third person view This year I plan to learn how to set up and fly through an FPV system. FPV stands for First Person View. The way this works is that there is a camera on the quad that you use with goggles to see just as if you were on the drone. I would also like to learn how to fly and FPV RC airplane. Lastly as last year I had a hard time learning to fly I would like to put up a few tutorial videos. My timeline goes as follows:

September	Set up my new quad’s FPV system
October	Begin flying my quad FPV
November	Start flying my new airplane (while continuing to fly my FPV quad)
December	Put up a few videos showing my progress flying FPV. Also give a review for my U32.
January	Convert my U32 Freedom 3D quad to FPV
February	Upload an intro. Video on how to fly
March	Basic controls tutorial
April	Hovering tutorial

Resources

In order to complete my project I will need FPV cameras and goggles. The goggles will be the Eachine VR D2. My airplane will be an Eachine micro Skyhunter. These have both been acquired through a close friend who is experienced in all fields of rc products and has been helping and guiding me since my 8th grade summer. The attached link for the skyhunter sends you to an unboxing he did on his YouTube channel Nor Cal Rc. I bought the U32 (which I will be putting up a review for) a few months ago and love it! The only other resource I will need would be viewers. My youtube goes by the name Red Hood Tech and though it doesn’t have many videos now will soon be full of content.

Q2 Benchmark

I am not making many changes to my project. I plan on sticking with learning and perfecting my robotics skills. After going in and beginning to work on my project I found a major flaw in my plans. I found that I need to make my own place to be able to work on my robotics if I want to be efficient with my time. So I am going to use the rest of November, the whole month of December, and possibly part of January to turn the shed in my backyard into my own robotics workplace.

Through December I completed a few parts of my action plan. This was due to changes that popped up as I went through with my project. In October I did create my own youtube channel. In November however I, instead of reviewing an rc, I received a quadcopter and started learning how to fly with it. I have made great progress and can fly it pretty well now. I also practiced some soldering through i2 meetings and on my own.

Nathan Jew, Class of 2019 i2 scholar, wants to build on his skill of 2D game programing and make a 3D game. I think this is a really interesting project. I see the progress Nathan is making with his new game Swipe and Shoot or Swipe-and-Shoot (I don’t know the official spelling) everyday. Nathan’s game is fun and slightly addictive (trust me I learned on the first day he brought it to lunch on his phone). The only problem he might find is that coding a game is an extremely long process and can grow frustrating. I think Nathan should post new versions of his game online through his blog every time he updates it to make it more accessible to being played and constructive criticism.



Christiana Peggy is a Class of 2018 i2 scholar and she wants to create her own music. By this she wants to make every aspect of every song herself (background music, vocals, etc.). Christiana wants to make meaningful songs that are unlike most popular songs nowadays which focus around being on drugs or having sex. I think that if Christiana was really dedicated and learned how to make songs really well she could very well change the music industry’s outlook on what songs should be about. Something I would add to Christiana’s project is taking small clips of herself, in the music making process, and post them to her own youtube channel (which she would post her music videos and audio to) so that people that have similar interests in making music can look at her as an example while creating their own music. (P.S. I really like how your blog plays music in the background could you tell me how you got it to do that).


Sophia Plett a 2017 i2 scholar has an interest in travel and wants to change her project from just taking photos/videos with her iPhone. She wants to combine her these 2 hobbies of hers and take pictures/videos of places that she visits then post them to youtube or a website/blog (currently undecided). I think Sophia’s project could really help travelers decide where they want to travel to. The only suggestion I would make is to travel to places nearby first because traveling can sap your budget really quickly. I suggest Sophia travels to places filled with nature and scenic views.

This year my project will be learning and perfecting a skill. The skill I want to learn a bit more in and perfect is robotics. The robotics I’m talking about is RC robotics specifically. The project will consist of learning new facts about robotics (how servos and motors work, how does the circuit board work, etc.) and perfecting old skills (soldering, controlling, etc.). I will also be reviewing a few products such as rc boats, helicopters, and quadcopters. Most of to all the work I will be doing will be done with my neighbor who makes RC products of a living.

I chose to do robotics because I have a strong interest in it. I already have a background in robotics. I have been working on robotics projects since the summer of last year. So far the most impressive project is that I have made a quadcopter that can go 50+ mph. I also would like to have a career in robotics. I want to create something along the lines of regenerable energy (a invention that can charge itself just off of moving). I feel that if I consistently learn new skills I can make my idea a reality.

A  few pieces of media similar to my project are the youtube channels, Nor Cal RC and quadvisionfilms. On these websites my neighbor uploads videos. Nor Cal Rc is: “all about rc fpv quad copters aerial video 3d heli's atv moto x racing plus reviews and builds i mix it up hope you like what you see and subscribe :)”. (https://www.youtube.com/user/bayareaheli/about) The channel quadvisionfilms is all about testing out products and mod’s on rc products. I will work alongside my neighbor to create videos similar to his on a new channel I plan on making.

I have an action plan. In October I will create my new channel. In November I will finish a reviewal of an RC boat. In December refine my soldering skills. In January I will switch my RC 4x4 truck from brush to brushless motors. In February I will read a book on electrical components. In March I will continue to read a book on electrical components. In April I will finish reading a book on electrical components. In May I will begin work on a new Quadcopter.