DIY Arduino Helicopter with Obstacle Avoidance

Here’s another neat Arduino helicopter project featuring four infrared sensors and one ultrasonic sensor for obstacle avoidance. We’ve seen an Arduino powered helicopter with four rotors and even one with six rotors too. This quadcopter, however, features superb stability and obstacle avoidance. It’s precise distance sensing makes this four rotor drone ideal for indoor flights.

The four fixed Sharp IR sensors on each arm have a 1.5m range making it ideal for indoor flights. It’s also capable of GPS as well as automatic takeoff and landing making it useful outdoors as well. It uses aluminum to keep it as light as possible and also enables for a more stable flight. Take a look at the work log for behind the scenes notes on the project.