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Leaf Collecting Drone

Sage Cooley, Jewel Levy, Alexia Morinigo, Alex Whang

Duke University, Pratt School of Engineering

Design Problem & Goal

Mapping plant biodiversity is currently done manually which is time-consuming and tedious. To increase sampling efficiency, the design team’s goal is to attach a robotic sampling aid onto a drone that retrieves leaf samples from the canopies of trees.

Design Criteria

Testing

Mechanical (Figure 1: A-E)

  • Beaks
    • Upper beak: attaches to the blades
    • Lower beak: provides a surface for the blades to cut
  • Blades: cuts the leaves
  • Servo motor: moves the large gear attached to the upper beak
  • Tubing: provides a place for the leaves to fall after they are cut

Conclusion / Future Work

Design Overview

  • Gather leaf samples with the device while the drone is in flight
  • Attachment operates autonomously via remote communication
  • Joystick → Receiver → Transmitter → Motor
  • User moves the joystick
  • Transmitter rotates the servo motor
  • Blade clamps down
  • Leaf falls into storage
  • Drone flies back to home base

Future Work

  • Increase percentage of leaves that remain in storage until user collection
  • Mount transmitter component onto the tube
  • Order custom PCB board for receiver component to decrease weight
  • Build encasement for the receiver and joystick

Acknowledgements / References

Dr. Martin Brooke, Duke University, Client

Dr. Ann Saterbak, Duke University, Professor

Dr. Mike Bergin, Duke University, Professor

Dr. Kip Coonley, Duke University, Technical Mentor

Emily Ma, Duke University, Teaching Assistant

Noah Falbaum, Duke University, Teaching Assistant

Nidhi Srivaths, Duke University, Writing Consultant

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Motivation

Design Solution

Our solution is a motorized device that cuts and stores leaf samples with a jaw-like beak that is operated remotely.

Criteria

Target Value

Durability

> 24 hours

Ease of use

Average of 4 on a user defined scale

Small-size

Smaller than the ANAFI drone body (2.5 x 2.6 x 9.6 inches)

Removability

Attach and detach from drone body > 60 times

Autonomous

No physical human interaction

Weight

< 1 pound

Criteria Tested

Test

Result

Durability

Drone will cut and collect leaves for 50 minutes for a total of 35 trials

TBD

Ease of use

Surveying Duke students on how easy it is to use the device with a user defined scale

TBD

Removability

Attach and detach from body a total of 15 times

Pass

Weight

Mean weight measurement of two trials

Pass: 6.17 oz

Figure 3. Arm Secured Onto Drone Body

Figure 1. Attachment Components and Dimensions

Figure 2. Receiver (User-Controlled) Components

Electronic (Figure 1: F-H, Figure 2: I-L)

  • nRF24L01 modules: allow the device to function over long distances
    • Transmitter: nRF24L01 module, Arduino, 9-V battery, servo motor
    • Receiver: nRF24L01 module, Arduino, 9-V battery, joystick
  • Joystick: controls the upper beak to move up and down
  • Arduinos: operate the motor which closes the upper beak on to the lower beak

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

A - Upper Beak with Blades

B - Lower Beak

C - Spur Gears and Servo Motor

D - Carbon Fiber Tube

E - PVC Pipe Elbow Connector

F - Arduino Uno

G - 9 Volt Battery

H - nRF24L01 Transmitter

I

J

K

L

17.5 cm

4 cm

M

N

O

M - Large Gear, 4.5 cm Diameter

N - Small Gear, 1.5 cm Diameter

O - Carbon Fiber Tube, 2.5 cm Diameter

K - Joystick

L - 9 Volt Battery

Operation

    • User toggles joystick forward to activate motor
    • Servo motor triggers spur gears
    • Large spur gear rotates axle (nail)
  • Participate in Rainforest XPRIZE competition, overseen by client Dr. Martin Brooke
  • Map plant biodiversity more efficiently with drone technology
  • Retrieve difficult-to-reach leaf samples for species identification purposes

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I - Arduino Uno

J - nRF24L01 Receiver