Team Name
Operation Valkyrie
Timeline
Fall 2024 – Spring 2025
Students
- Andrew Espinoza – CpE
- Andrew Nguyen – CS
- Renzo Arevalo – CpE
- Servando Olvera – CpE
Abstract
A drone equipped with a water tank filled with soap water, a tube will come out of the tank and
attach to a gimbal where the transmitter would enter a guided mode allowing the drone to stay
stable in air and aim the gimbal at the wasp nest. An FPV camera and goggles are mounted on
the drone to help with piloting.
Background
Wasps pose a significant and often underestimated threat to human safety and comfort,
particularly in areas where they build nests in close proximity to homes, schools, workplaces,
and recreational spaces. Unlike bees, who are major pollinators, wasps contribute very little to
the ecosystem and primarily engage in scavenging behavior to feed their young. Their
aggressive nature, paired with their inconvenient nest placements and their tendency to defend
their nests violently, creates a hazardous environment for humans and animals.
Traditional methods for removing wasp nests are time-consuming, dangerous, and sometimes
ineffective. Homeowners and pest control professionals are typically forced to rely on ladders,
protective gear, and chemical sprays. These expose individuals to the risk of stings and
potential allergic reactions. The inefficiency of these methods are further highlighted when nests
are located in hard-to-reach areas, such as high under roof soffits and eaves or in the dense
foliage of trees. Additionally, chemical treatments pose their own risks, including environmental
contamination and harm to other wildlife.
Our project seeks to address the problem by developing a drone-based solution capable of
safely and effectively removing wasp nests. The drone will be equipped with a camera for
aiming the soapy water to neutralize the nests. The human operator will control the drone from a
safe distance which eliminates the need for ladders and direct confrontation with the nest. It
provides a more flexible, accessible, and efficient method for nest removal, reducing the risks to
human safety while preserving the surrounding environment.
While the current state of the pest control industry is sometimes effective, there is opportunity to
innovate. There is a growing demand for more advanced, safer, and less invasive methods of
pest management, especially in residential and commercial settings where the presence of
wasps can disrupt daily life. Our customer base of property owners, pest control services, and
municipalities are seeking a reliable and safe alternative to manual nest removal. The drone
system we will develop fills this gap by offering a high-tech solution that reduces the risks
associated with wasp nest removal and as a result saves time, reduces injury, and prevents
unnecessary exposure to harsh chemicals.
In summary, the existing methods for wasp nests removal are not only dangerous but also
inefficient when it comes to hard-to-reach places, leading to a higher demand for a safer, more
effective solution. The drone-based system provides a unique opportunity to disrupt the status
quo, offering a safe and environmentally friendly approach to dealing with wasp infestations.
This project not only meets a critical need but also aligns with the broader trends of using
technology to improve safety and operational efficiency in pest control.
Project Requirements
- To be able to eliminate wasp nests on a property, the drone must be capable of sustaining long flight times in totality of the job. If necessary the drone would swap battery packs in order to continue flight when needed.
- The drone will need to be able to take off with a suitable amount of soap water to soak a wasp nest.
- We need to be able to reach high places of buildings where wasps tend to make their nests, however we must stay within 400 ft when not operating around buildings (if we need to exterminate nests in trees).
- The gimbal used for shooting the water should be operating and functional using the knobs on the transmitter to control the aim.
- The water pump in the tank should shoot enough water at a reasonable distance when the respective switch on the transmitter is flicked.
- On bootup of the drone, the gimbal and pump should work without additional script needing to be run from the companion computer.
- The FPV camera should be turned on and working on bootup and should be used to aim the water at the wasp nest.
- In order to ensure that the drone has enough water it must be able to handle additional load other than the weight of the drone itself.
- The transmitter has enough battery for the drone and pilot to complete its task of destroying the wasp nest.
- The transmitter can reliably be used for drone movement while respectively switches and knobs are used for the pump and gimbal with little to no delay.
Design Constraints
- The final drone prototype, along with a successful demonstration, must be completed by May 2025. This will limit the time available for designing, building, testing, and refining the drone.
- The total development cost must not exceed $800. This will restrict the choices of materials and components needed such as motors, propellers, cameras, sensors, batteries, liquid sprayers, and flight controllers.
- Weight and size limitations have to be considered. The drone must be lightweight enough for precise flight maneuvering but solid enough to carry all of the components necessary to accomplish its task. On top of this, drone regulations have to be taken into account since these tend to restrict the weight of the machine.
- Regulations could impact drone operation, specifically for purposes like wasp nest removal. This could include regulations on no-fly zones, flight altitude, and safety regulations near residential areas. Operation Valkyrie – Fall 2024 page 12 of 17
- Environmental factors could affect testing and operation of drones. Wind, high temperatures, and rain will impede the drone from successfully completing its task.
Engineering Standards
- FAA Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Regulations
- Section 107 – Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems regulations, especially applicable to us since we are flying the drone outdoors.
- OSHA Compliance – Electrical and Equipment Safety
- OSHA standards required reassurance on the safety of workers/people during drone assembly, testing, and its operation.
- ISO 12100 – Safety of Machinery: General Principles for Design
- Identify possible hazards in regarding the drone or its components, and encourage safety design choices that minimize risks.
- IPC-2221 – Generic Standard for PCB Design
- This is in regards to the power management board on the drone. It ensures safe trace spacing, thermal reliefs, and signal integrity under real-world conditions.
- NFPA 70 – National Electric Code (NEC) Wiring Standards
- This applies to internal wiring and connectors used in the drone’s electronics. It emphasizes safe routing, current ratings, grounding, and overcurrent protection. It’s important for the flight controller, the water pump system, the servos, and the FPV camera.
System Overview
This system is composed of five different modules: Main Controller Module, which
behaves as the central processing unit for the system, Flight Module, Sprayer Module,
Communication Module, and Power Module.
All of the modules interact with the Main Controller Module, which processes and
handles incoming and outgoing data from all other modules. This module is responsible for
processing data, sending control commands, and maintaining communication and control over
the other modules and their re-spective subsystems. The Flight Module is responsible for flight
stabilization through the use of an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), that includes
accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers. This module also includes the propulsion
subsystem, which consist of the propulsion drivers and propellers for a stable flight. The Sprayer
Module contains the liquid storage tank, a pump, and a nozzle that includes actuators and a
valve for precise control when spraying the liquid. The Communication Mod- ule allows for
real-time control and monitoring of the drone while performing its task. This module includes an
FPV Camera, FVP Goggles, an RF Transceiver, and an RC Controller for remote and precise
operation of the drone. The Power Module manages the voltage supply to all other modules,
using a battery pack with Battery Management System, a Voltage Converter, and a Power
Distributor to regulate and provide voltage accordingly.
This system design ensures an efficient workflow, in which the major components of the
system communicate effectively, and work together to accomplish the drone’s task. Sensor
inputs, control signals, power distribution, and video feed are effectively managed to achieve
stable and precise flight, precise spraying, and reliable communication.
Results
The drone successfully achieved stable flight and the ability to switch between two flight
modes: regular flight mode and targeting mode. Regular flight mode is merely a standard
manual control. When switched to targeting mode, all RC input channels were disabled and
repurposed for servo output, allowing the user to control the onboard gimbal for aiming. The
drone was piloted effectively using both third-person view from the ground and first-person
perspective (FPV) through the use of FPV goggles.
While in targeting mode, the user is able to control the gimbal mid flight, allowing for
active aiming of the water cannon mechanism. Additionally, the pump system used to spray the
soapy water at a wasp nest was successfully triggered mid air, showcasing the integration
between the Raspberry Pi and CubeOrange flight controller using the pymavlink interface.
Future Work
Some areas for improvement were identified during the development process of the
drone. One of the main ones was the payload capacity. Due to the overall weight of the drone,
the water tank was limited in size, which entailed reducing the amount of soap water that could
be carried. A future iteration could explore introducing a lighter frame, reducing weight wherever
possible, or using a bigger battery and more powerful motors, or using a hexacopter drone as
opposed to a quadcopter, to increase liquid capacity.
Moreover, the gimbal control system posed quite the challenges. Our initial
implementation involved disabling the pitch and yaw inputs from the transmitter, and
repurposing them through the Raspberry Pi to control the gimbal. However, this approach
proved to be unreliable and difficult to manage mid flight. As a work around, we then
implemented Guided Mode, which disabled all RC input channels and allowed direct servo
control on the CubeOrange flight controller. This other approach proved to be more reliable and
effective but still came with its complications. Future versions of the project could benefit from a
more integrated gimbal control approach, possibly using dedicated gimbal control hardware.
Project Files
Project Charter
System Requirements Specification
Architectural Design Specification
Detailed Design Specification
Poster
References
ArduPilot. (n.d.). Ardupilot/pymavlink: Python MAVLink interface and Utilities. GitHub.
https://github.com/ArduPilot/pymavlink
“Building the Documentation.” ArduSub,
https://www.ardusub.com/developers/building-docs.html. Accessed Fall 2024 – Spring 2025
