Build Your Own Wall-Climbing ESP8266 Drone

Today I will share with you how to make an ESP8266 drone and what its working principle is (Note: This drone can climb walls).

We all know what the function of a drone is, which is to fly. But if I told you that this drone can also climb up walls, or dive underwater like a submarine, would you find it a bit magical? The drone introduced below can do that!

To play with drones, you need a flight controller, but if we don’t have much money to buy one, what should we do? We can make our own flight controller (there’s a complete video demonstration at the end).

Now, let’s take a look at the main components of the drone:

• ESP8266
• MPU6050 Acc/Gyro Module
• Brushed Motor
• Propeller
• 500 mAh Lipo 3.7v
• Si2302 Mosfet (5x)
• Pencil

If you are an electronics enthusiast, you will find that you have all the components listed below.

Tools Used

A drone needs a frame, motors, propellers, an electric motor, a flight controller, and a battery.

● Flight Controller

The flight controller (also known as FC) is the brain of the aircraft. It is a circuit board with a series of sensors that can detect the drone’s movement and the user’s commands. If you tell it to move forward, the flight controller will adjust the speed of the rear motors to make it go forward.

● ESP8266 Module

To communicate with the drone, we need a Bluetooth or WIFI connection, so we use the ESP8266 Wi-Fi module, which has built-in Wi-Fi that we can use for communication.

ESP8266 is open-source, interactive, programmable, low-cost, simple, smart, and the lowest-cost Wi-Fi hardware.

As for the flight range of the drone, tests have shown a range of about 70 meters, using a Samsung phone as a WiFi hotspot and remote controller.

● MPU6050

MPU6050 IMU is a low-cost device that contains a gyroscope and an accelerometer.

We will use the MPU-6050 and ESP8266 modules to make a drone.

● Coreless Motor

Coreless motors are micro-motors used in quadcopters and drones. These motors are coreless, meaning there is no metal core in the rotor. Coreless motors can achieve high speeds under smaller loads. These motors are suitable for micro-drones, quadcopters, or mini projects.

● Propeller

The purpose of the propeller is to generate thrust and torque to keep the drone flying.

As shown in the figure above, this is a schematic diagram of the receiver control module based on ESP12e (ESP8266).

Circuit Connection

Connect the circuit according to the schematic in the figure above, paying attention to the connection details of each component.

Frame

The frame provides structure and rigidity; it is the mounting location for all components.

Here, a wooden pencil was chosen and shaped into a quadcopter.

If you have a 3D printer, you can print a better frame.

Assembling the Drone

This is the drone frame made with a pencil, please see the photo.

To connect the motors, we need to place the motors on the arms of the frame.

Installing All Motors

Two motors rotate clockwise, and two motors rotate counterclockwise (see the diagram). If one motor does not rotate in the correct direction, simply switch the polarity of the motor.

• Check the battery and voltage
• Check that all propellers are securely connected
• Check that all motor fixtures are secure

Remember to unplug the battery after flying and reconnect it before flying.

Software Part

It is recommended to use Arduino IDE: if you want to edit (i.e., the SSID and password of the WiFi network – Android hotspot)

• Install Arduino IDE
• Install ESP8266 board
• InstallESP8266WiFi.h library

Copy the code and modify your WiFi SSID and password in the code (the code can be downloaded at the end):

#include<Wire.h>
#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <WiFiUdp.h>
The code is too long, so it won't be pasted here for easier reading; you can download it at the end.

The aboveDrone_Final.ino file can be downloaded at the end.

Open Arduino IDE, copy the code fromDrone_Final.ino and paste it into Arduino IDE.

By editing the following two lines, modify your network’s SSID and password in the code.

WiFi.begin("Diyprojectslab", "romeooo"); //ssid or pass

• In Arduino IDE, go to “Tools” > “Board” > select “NODEMCU 1.0 (ESP – 12E Module)”
• Go to Tools and select Port
• Change the WI-FI name and password from the above code
• Now click the upload button to upload the above code
• If everything goes smoothly, you will see the blue LED on the ESP8266 start blinking every second.

Android App Setup and ESP8266 Drone Testing

You just need to download the App file attached in this step to your Android phone.

This Android application is developed using Processing for Android App.

A wall-climbing project based on NodeMCU flight controller and Android app control. Complete details and explanation video.

I believe you will love it.