This fishing drone was designed and built to deliver fishing bait several hundred meters offshore safely and efficiently, surpassing the casting distance and ensuring safer operations than paddling out on a kayak. Given the problem this had to solve there were a few criteria it had to meet:

• Ability to lift several kilograms

• Safely operate over water

• Safely operate in dark conditions

• Redundancy in case of malfunction

Given these criteria the focus was on a high safety factor and reliability, because if something were to go wrong it would end up lost at sea. There would be no opportunity to recover and repair.

I used a hexacopter design for this drone. The main reason for the hexacopter design, rather than a quadcopter, is six rotors provides motor redundancy ensuring the drone can still fly and return home even if one of the motors fails.

The drone's chassis is constructed of carbon fiber, providing durability and strength while being lightweight. The carbon fiber material allows for longer flight times while carrying the maximum payload of 3.5 kilograms, which far exceeds the weight of even large baits which would typically top out at 1 kilogram on the high end, and averaged closer to 0.5 kilograms. By far exceeding the required carrying specifications it ensured minimal flight performance impact, both in duration and stability, while the drone was carrying extra weight. Another added benefit of using primarily carbon fiber is it reduces parts susceptible to corrosion, as this drone was to primarily be used on the beach the salty air and water would quicky rust and corrode any metal parts that were not coated or protected in some way.

The drone includes a servo that operates as an electronic latch, allowing the bait to be released from the drone at the desired location. The release mechanism is triggered remotely, ensuring accurate placement of the bait. The drone is powered by a 4S 16,000mAh LiPo battery, providing a 25-minute flight time, allowing the drone to safely make several runs out to sea before needing to recharge. Able to make about 4 runs out to sea and back on a single charge, I would max out at 3 runs to ensure a safe buffer.

The drone is controlled by a DJI flight controller with GPS-assisted flight stabilization, ensuring the drone stays stable in the air, even in windy conditions. It also has a controller range of 1.5 kilometers, allowing the operator to fly the drone and deliver bait to the desired location with precision while never having to worry about loss of signal.

The drone features an auto-home fail-safe feature, which ensures the drone returns home automatically if it loses connection with the controller or experiences a malfunction. This feature can also be manually triggered from the controller if necessary, adding an extra layer of safety to the drone's operation, ensuring it returns to its starting point and preventing the loss of the drone.

The drone is an innovative solution to the problem of delivering fishing bait several hundred meters offshore. It was designed with the specific criteria of being able to lift several kilograms, operate safely over water and in dark conditions, and provide redundancy in case of malfunction. With features such as motor redundancy, GPS-assisted flight stabilization, and an auto-home fail-safe mechanism, this drone ensures safe and efficient operations, providing an effective solution for offshore fishing enthusiasts like myself.