Best way to power and control 4 drone motors?

Projects General Guidance
1

I am making my first drone with an arduino nano and 4 drone motors. My first idea was to power each drone with a 3 volt coin battery and have 4 BJT transistors controlling each motor however, when controlled by the transistor Vout is noticeably less that Vin. So then I thought I would just put 2 coin batteries per transistor and that should be enough to control each motor but that would be 3 batteries for the Nano, and then 2 for each motor which would be a total of 11 batteries and that is just too inefficient in size and cost so I'm seeking a better option. I'm leaning towards a better power source because even if I fix the transistor problem that is still seven 3V coin batteries and that feels like a lot. Maybe a charger? Please help me out here, I'm not that good with circuits yet, especially when they have to be really tiny but I really want to make this project.

2

Hi,

Can you post a link to specs/data of your drone motors?

I think you will find "coin" batteries will be far from adequate to power your motors.

What batteries for the Nano?
What RC control will you sue, have you factored in mass and batteries for the Tx/Rx unit.

Thanks.. Tom... :smiley: :+1: :coffee: :australia:

3

Well I actually don't know the specs :confused:, I stripped them off of a drone that didn't work and are now using them for my own. I did however just check and you are right about it being insuffecient, the motors will need a max of about 5 volts and 1 ampere each. For the Nano I was just going to use 3 or 4 volt coin batteries or a 9V battery, whichever one was better. I plan on using the 433MHZ transmitter and receiver for the wireless control and I think that the 5v from the Nano should be able to power the receiver and I'll use another arduino to control the transmitter.

4

What other things have You built before this?

5

Well the only thing relevant to this is a wireless car

Personally I feel somewhat intermediate with arduino I just really struggle with electronics and have so for a while( I'm not really at the age where it is part of my education)

6

Hi,
How was the drone powered?

Tom... :smiley: :+1: :coffee: :australia:

7

Forget the "coin" batteries all together.
Get a decent Lipo.

8

You mean when I was testing it? With a DC adjustable voltage regulator box
link right here

9

Thanks! I was looking for a better power source and this seems alright

But how would I go about separating it into 4 power sources that each can be turned on or off without limiting the current?

10

How many wires go the a single motor?

11

two

12

Hi,

This, the original "didn't work" drone?

Tom... :smiley::+1: :coffee: :australia:

13

Yeah the motors all work

14

So, they are brushed motors. Do you have rather big propellers for them?

15

Yeah they are your typical drone motors.

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16

Have a look at drone you can buy and what motors/batteries etc they have.
Use only one battery - with 4 , if one goes flat the drive will be uncontrollable .
What does drone look like ?

17

Do you mean the drone I took the motors away from or the one I'm making right now?

18
1 Like
19

Tell us about the drone you took the motors away from, what batteries did it have in it?

Thanks.. Tom... :smiley: :+1: :coffee: :australia:

20

Sorry it took a while to get the info but here’s the sales info for the battery

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And it says the motor is a 716 coreless brushed? If that means anything