Master thesis with the title: Sub-250 gram fixed-wing drone for wildlife monitoring in Africa
# Sub-250g Fixed-Wing Drone for Wildlife Monitoring in Africa
---
This repository contains the code, configurations, and documentation for my Master's thesis project, which focuses on developing a lightweight fixed-wing drone equipped for wildlife monitoring tasks in African environments.
The master thsesis explaining the project and its content can be found as: Sub-250 gram fixed-wing drone for wildlife monitoring in Africa.pdf
---
## 🧩 Repository Structure
```console
Master_thesis/
├── flight_controller/ # PX4 setup for Kakute H7 Mini
│ ├── README.md
│ ├── 250gram_drone.params
├── flight_tests/ # Logs, test reports, checklists
│ ├── README.md
│ ├── checklists/
│ │ └── pre_flight_check.md
│ ├── logs/
│ │ └── flight_log_template.md
├── pi_setup/ # Companion computer setup (Pi Zero 2 W)
│ ├── README.md
│ ├── systemd/
│ │ └── mavros_autostart.service
| | └── px4_logger.service
│ ├── rosbag/
│ │ ├── record_mavros.sh
│ │ └── rosbag_topics.yaml
│ ├── logs/
│ ├── setup.sh
│ ├── camera_setup.sh
│ ├── mavros_logger.py
│ ├── camera_setup.sh
│ └── ulog_logger.sh
└── README.md # You are here
```
## Project Overview
The aim of this project is to design and implement a sub-250g fixed-wing drone capable of autonomous flight and data collection for wildlife monitoring. The drone integrates a PX4 flight controller and a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W companion computer.
---
## 🚀 Quick Start Guide
### 1. Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W Setup
- Flash **Ubuntu Server 22.04** to SD card
- Add `user-data` and `network-config` to the `system-boot` partition
- Boot the Pi and SSH into it
### 2. Run Setup Script
```console
cd ~/pi_setup
chmod +x setup.sh
./setup.sh
```
3. Start MAVROS
```console
sudo systemctl start mavros_autostart.service
```
4. Record Flight Data
```console
cd ~/pi_setup/rosbag
./record_mavros.sh
```
5. Capture Images + GPS Data
```console
python3 ~/pi_setup/geotag …