Speed control during mission in Drone Programming - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Speed control during mission

📖 Scenario: You are programming a drone to fly a mission. The drone must adjust its speed based on the distance to the next waypoint to fly safely and efficiently.

🎯 Goal: Build a program that sets the drone's speed for each waypoint based on the distance to that waypoint.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a dictionary with waypoints and their distances

Add a speed limit variable

Use a loop to set speed based on distance

Print the speed settings for each waypoint

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Drones need to adjust their speed during missions to save battery and avoid obstacles safely.

💼 Career

Understanding how to control speed based on conditions is important for drone software developers and robotics engineers.

1

Create waypoints with distances

Create a dictionary called waypoints with these exact entries: 'WP1': 100, 'WP2': 250, 'WP3': 400, 'WP4': 150

Drone Programming

# Your code here

Hint

Use curly braces to create a dictionary with the waypoint names as keys and distances as values.

2

Set maximum speed limit

Create a variable called max_speed and set it to 50 to represent the maximum speed of the drone.

Drone Programming

waypoints = {'WP1': 100, 'WP2': 250, 'WP3': 400, 'WP4': 150}
# Your code here

Hint

Just assign the number 50 to the variable max_speed.

3

Calculate speed for each waypoint

Use a for loop with variables wp and dist to iterate over waypoints.items(). Inside the loop, create a variable called speed that is max_speed if dist is greater than 200, otherwise dist / 4.

Drone Programming

waypoints = {'WP1': 100, 'WP2': 250, 'WP3': 400, 'WP4': 150}
max_speed = 50
# Your code here

Hint

Use a conditional expression to set speed based on the distance.

4

Print speed settings

Inside the same for loop, write a print statement that outputs: "Waypoint {wp} speed set to {speed}" using an f-string.

Drone Programming

waypoints = {'WP1': 100, 'WP2': 250, 'WP3': 400, 'WP4': 150}
max_speed = 50
for wp, dist in waypoints.items():
    speed = max_speed if dist > 200 else dist / 4
    # Your code here

Hint

Use print(f"Waypoint {wp} speed set to {speed}") inside the loop.

Practice

1. What is the main reason to adjust the drone's speed during a mission?

easy

A. To save battery by flying as fast as possible

B. To change the drone's color

C. To make the drone hover in place

D. To fly slower near obstacles for safety

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand speed control purpose

   Speed control helps adjust how fast the drone flies to match mission needs.

2. Step 2: Identify safety reason

   Flying slower near obstacles reduces crash risk and improves control.

3. Final Answer:

   To fly slower near obstacles for safety -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Safety needs slower speed near obstacles = B [OK]

Hint: Slower speed near obstacles means safer flight [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking faster speed always saves battery
• Confusing speed control with hovering
• Believing speed changes drone color

2. Which of the following is the correct way to set the drone speed to 5 meters per second in code?

easy

A. setSpeed(drone, 5)

B. drone.speed = '5mps'

C. drone.setSpeed(5)

D. drone.speed(5)

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify correct method syntax

   The method to set speed is called on the drone object with a number argument.

2. Step 2: Check each option

   drone.setSpeed(5) uses drone.setSpeed(5) which is correct syntax for setting speed to 5.

3. Final Answer:

   drone.setSpeed(5) -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Method call with number argument = A [OK]

Hint: Use object.method(value) to set speed [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using string instead of number for speed
• Calling speed as a function instead of method
• Passing drone as argument instead of calling method on it

3. What will be the output of this code snippet?

drone.setSpeed(3)
print(drone.speed)

medium

A. None

B. 3

C. Error: speed attribute not found

D. drone.setSpeed(3)

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand setSpeed effect

   Calling drone.setSpeed(3) sets the drone's speed attribute to 3.

2. Step 2: Print drone.speed value

   Printing drone.speed outputs the current speed value, which is 3.

3. Final Answer:

   3 -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Set speed to 3, print speed = 3 [OK]

Hint: setSpeed changes speed attribute; print shows it [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Expecting method call to print
• Assuming speed attribute is missing
• Confusing method name with attribute

4. The following code is intended to set the drone speed to 10 m/s but causes an error. What is the problem?

drone.setspeed(10)

medium

A. Method name is case-sensitive; should be setSpeed

B. Speed value 10 is too high and causes error

C. Missing parentheses after method name

D. drone object is not defined

Solution

1. Step 1: Check method name spelling

   Method names are case-sensitive; 'setspeed' is incorrect, correct is 'setSpeed'.

2. Step 2: Confirm other options

   Speed 10 is valid, parentheses are present, and drone object assumed defined.

3. Final Answer:

   Method name is case-sensitive; should be setSpeed -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Case-sensitive method names cause errors = A [OK]

Hint: Check exact method name spelling and case [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Ignoring case sensitivity in method names
• Assuming value too high causes error
• Forgetting parentheses after method

5. You want the drone to fly slower near obstacles and faster in open areas during a mission. Which code snippet correctly changes speed based on distance to obstacle?

distance = drone.getDistance()
if distance < 5:
    drone.setSpeed(2)
else:
    drone.setSpeed(8)

hard

A. Correctly sets speed slower near obstacles and faster otherwise

B. Sets speed faster near obstacles, which is unsafe

C. Uses wrong comparison operator; should be distance > 5

D. Does not change speed at all

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand distance check

   Code checks if distance to obstacle is less than 5 meters.

2. Step 2: Analyze speed settings

   If close (distance < 5), speed is set to 2 (slow). Else speed is 8 (fast). This matches safe speed control.

3. Final Answer:

   Correctly sets speed slower near obstacles and faster otherwise -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Distance check controls speed safely = C [OK]

Hint: Use if distance < threshold for slower speed [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Reversing comparison operator
• Setting faster speed near obstacles
• Not calling setSpeed inside condition