Let's Make a Programmable Nano Drone | Pluto 1.2

I have always been fascinated with Aerial Vehicles like Aeroplanes, Drones, Helicopters, etc. Although I have made many robots, remote-controlled cars and automation projects, I never attempted to make an aerial vehicle. That is because of my limited knowledge of aerodynamics. But that changes now. I just received a box from Drona Aviation and now my journey to learn about drones begins.

In this tutorial let us learn about Pluto 1.2 programmable nano drone kit, how to assemble it, how to fly it and my experience with it.

Pluto 1.2 is basically a programmable drone kit aimed at students and hobbyists who want to get into the world of aviation. It is a nano drone that can be assembled and modified as per our needs. Pluto 1.2 is powered by the Primus V4 flight controller which is a slightly downgraded version of Primus X. Primus is a reprogrammable flight controller which comes with onboard WiFi. It can be controlled using a smartphone or a gamepad.

Supplies

We don't need much but the kit itself as it comes with everything we need.

• Pluto 1.2 Drone Kit: You can get one from Amazon IN.
• Pluto Smart Controller App: Available for Android and iOS.

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That's all we need. Now let's see what we get inside the box.

Step 1: Unboxing the Kit.

Here is a list of all the components we get inside the box.

• Primus V4 Flight Controller
• 4 x Coreless Motors
• 8 x Propellers (4 Extra)
• 6 x Propeller guard (2 Extra)
• 1 x Battery 3.7V 600mAh
• 4 x Plastic Screws
• 4 x Dampers
• 1 x Propeller removal tool
• Flathead Screwdriver
• Frame and canopy

Along with the above-mentioned components, the box also has a few stickers, a rookie pilot badge and a descriptive user manual which I found very helpful.

Pluto 1.2 Specifications.

• Size – 16 x 16cm
• Weight – 54g
• Payload Capacity – 15g
• Max Range – 80m
• Flight Time – 8+ Mins
• Charging Time – 45 Mins
• Speed – 3m/sec
• Flight Controller – Primus V4
• Stabilization – 10-axis stability
• Firmware – Magis
• Connectivity – Wi-Fi
• Controls – Smartphone App or External Gamepad (not included in the box)

Now that we know what the box has, let's put everything together and build our very first drone.

Step 2: Attaching the Flight Controller to the Frame.

• First, attach the 4 rubber dampers to the Primus V4 board as shown in the image above. These dampers fit in the mounting holes of the flight controller and prevent the board from vibrations generated by the motors.
• Place the controller on the frame and match the mounting holes. Notice the arrow on the frame and on the controller board before and make sure the direction matches.
• Next use the plastic screws provided with the kit to secure the board to the frame. Do not screw them all the way in, leave some space as shown in the image. We will need this to attach the canopy later.

Step 3: Adding Motors to Our Drone.

• Place the motors into the motor mounts of the frame. First, pass the wire through the holes and then firmly press the motors in.
• After all four motors are placed in the mounts, place the drone on a flat surface and use the propeller tool to apply some pressure to secure the motors in place.
• Now to attach the wires to the main controller. There are small connectors on the board and on motors that only go in one way. Be gentle with the connectors, just with little effort the connectors slide in.
• The frame has grooves on the arms to place the wires. You can tuck in the wires so they don't make a mess.

Step 4: Attaching the Canopy, Propellers, and Battery.

• Notice that the canopy has 4 semi-circular mounts. Slide them into the mounting screws as shown in the image above. Once all 4 sides are attached, tighten the screws to secure the canopy in place.
• Now attach the propellers to the motors. But first, notice that there are 2 sets of propellers, We have to attach the pairs diagonally as shown in the image. Double-check the propellers as it is very essential to attach them in the right order.
• Finally, we have to attach the battery. The Primus V4 board and the battery both have connectors that fit in one direction only. Just match the wire colours (Red to Red and Black to Black) and the connectors should slide smoothly.
• Now place the battery under the frame. It should slide in from the front of the drone. Make sure the battery is all the way in and not sticking out from the front.

With that been done, our Pluto 1.2 drone is fully assembled and ready to take off. But before that, do charge the drone fully using a micro USB. When you put the drone on a charge, a red LED should light up and it will stay on until the battery is full.

Step 5: Registration & App Setup.

Before we can install the app and start controlling the drone, we first need to register our drone with Drona and get the WiFi password.

Getting WiFi Password.

• Head over to Drona Aviation and register with an account if you don't already have one.
• Then click on "Get your drone password". A popup window will appear.
• Here add the appropriate information. If you don't know where to find the SSID and Authkey, Just open the Pluto 1.2 box and on the top of the lid, you will find the information.
• After submitting the information, we will receive the password just below the "Submit" button.

Connecting to Pluto.

• First, we will turn on the drone by toggling the Slider switch on the Primus board.
• Now we go to our phone's WiFi settings and check for available connections. There should be a new device named "pluto". Connect to it using the Password received from Drona's website.

After a successful connection is established, now we can open the Pluto smart controller app and create a profile.

Setting up the Smartphone app.

• Open the Pluto controller app and create a profile by entering your Name, profile pic (optional), and click on "Let's fly".
• After the profile is ready, click on the connect button at the bottom of the page.
• Allow the necessary permissions required by the app.

Now that everything is set up, all we need to do is calibrate the drone.

Step 6: Calibrating Pluto 1.2

• Open the app and click on ‘connect’. This will connect the app to the drone. Now on the top left corner, there is Menu. Click on Menu >> Drone Settings, this will open a settings page where the first option is to calibrate the Accelerometer.
• Place the drone on a flat surface and then click on "Calibrate". It will take a few seconds and the drone will be calibrated.
• Now we have to calibrate the magnetometer. For doing this we first need to understand the axis of the drone. There are three: Pitch, yaw, and roll. Refer to the diagram above. All we have to do is click on the calibration button and follow the instructions from the app.

After the calibration is done successfully, we are ready to fly our Pluto!

Step 7: Let's Fly It!!!

Now that the assembly, setup and calibration is done, we are ready to fly our Pluto.

• As a beginner, find an open space. Outdoors is fine if it is not very windy. Or an empty room.
• Place the drone on the floor or a table. The surface should be flat.
• Next on the app toggle the Arm button. And finally hit the Takeoff button.

Now you can control the drone using the app as a controller. Apart from the app, we can also use an external gamepad controller to fly the drone but we will see that in another tutorial.

Step 8: My Review.

After flying Pluto for a couple of days, here's what I think of the experience it gave me.

Overall the package provides a great experience for students and hobbyists to create and fly their first drone. I personally learnt a lot about drones in these few days. The Kit was easy to assemble and set up. The manual that comes with the kit is very helpful and provides great information with pictures.

Along with the easy out of the box flying fun, Pluto is also programmable and we can use it to create our own projects. That we will see in the future but for now let's talk about the cons.

The only con that bothered me was that the drone had a slight drifting issue which I couldn't solve by trimming. So I connected Drona Aviation's team and they acknowledged this issue and said they are working on fixing it.

So that was it for today's tutorial. In future posts, we will learn more about Pluto 1.2 like how to use an external controller, how to program it and how to add sensors.

For a more thorough tutorial and review check out this article.