Turbine Drone

Turbine Drone ECU

Drones • Avionics • Powertrains

A consolidated, custom ECU for model turbine powertrains—combining hardware design, embedded control firmware, and a live telemetry dashboard for safer bring-up and operator training.

Highlights

  • Pinout and timing capture of OEM ECU to guide the consolidated design.
  • Custom control firmware with simulated and hardware feedback loops.
  • Operator dashboard for live telemetry, logging, and event playback.
  • Bench validation process emphasizing safety and repeatability.

Overview

The project unifies multiple turbine control functions into a single ECU, pairing embedded control with a user-friendly dashboard. The aim is predictable starts, stable running, and clear feedback for operators.

Approach

Derive requirements from the baseline ECU, design a consolidated hardware platform, implement control firmware, and validate with instrumented bench tests and a desktop dashboard before any airframe integration.

Status

Hardware and firmware are under integration with live telemetry exercising key control paths. Next steps expand hardware-in-the-loop testing and refine interlocks for safe field operation.

Gallery

Temperature testing using thermal camera Testing the engine's capabilities Custom test enclosure for the engine Jet-Quad Model