All work
TETHERED DRONE
A tethered hexacopter that cleans windows up to 12 storeys, fed with power and water from the ground.
Photo to come
PROBLEM
A drone that carries its own water and battery spends most of its lift on the load. To clean windows up to 12 storeys, the power and the water had to come from somewhere else.
We are defining the requirements with an industry partner, Blondie’s Window Services.
APPROACH
- The hexacopter is tethered to a generator-powered base station on the ground. The base station feeds it power and water, so the aircraft carries no battery.
- I lead the design of the custom ESP32-based flight controller PCB, its flight control firmware and the control system.
- I’m developing a computer vision model that classifies clean and dirty glass. It supports an optional Raspberry Pi autonomous mode that detects windows and obstacles.
Photo to come
STACK
Hardware and software behind the project.
| Area | What I used |
|---|---|
| Airframe | Tethered hexacopter |
| Flight control | Custom ESP32-based flight controller PCB |
| Ground support | Generator-powered base station for power and water |
| Autonomy | Optional Raspberry Pi mode |
| Area | What I used |
|---|---|
| Firmware | Flight control firmware and control system |
| Vision | Clean and dirty glass classifier, window and obstacle detection |
RESULTS
- Requirements are being defined with Blondie’s Window Services.
- The flight controller, firmware and vision model are in development for the capstone project.
Video to come