Central Southland College student builds aluminium-frame drone

A Southland international student, keen to improve his technical skills, has built a drone from scratch.

Central Southland College year 13 student Adrian Burkard, from Switzerland,? began work on his quadcopter drone last year.

"The first time I flew it, I crashed it," he said.

The mishap, which happened in December, meant Burkard had to go back and figure out what went wrong. He did just that - and was able to successfully fly the drone to a height of 250 metres during a flight in May.

Burkard said he had always been fascinated by flying machines, and wanted to build a drone because it would be a good challenge and would improve his technical knowledge.

Everything was built from scratch, which he said made him appreciate the process more.

The aluminium-frame drone has four propellers powered by a lithium polymer battery and is controlled with a APM 2.8 computer that acts as the "brains" of the machine.

Tilt sensors to provide feedback on attitude and orientation, while a GPS provides location data. Aside from pre-programmed flight paths, the drone can land on autopilot and "loiter" above a location like a hovering helicopter.

Many of the components and fittings for the drone were made with a 3D printer at Central Southland College.