Prototype 2, CHARM, lacked autonomous navigation capabilities. Thus, we decided to build Prototype 3, nicknamed CHARM2, using a different flight controller (Pixhawk). We also changed the transmitter to a joystick that communicates with the drone using telemetry.
Finally, we added the package release mechanism (servos and magnets) to this prototype.
In laboratory testing, CHARM2 was able to fly stably with the load as well as release the payload using the servo mechanism. This was after some field tests to calibrate the drone, as Pixhawk proved more difficult to manage than the F4 controller used previously.
Unfortunately, upon testing in the field, the Pixhawk flight controller proved erratic and this resulted in two major crashes, the second of which rendered the Pixhawk flight controller unusable due to extensive physical damage to the GPS, telemetry and the flight controller itself.
(insert FPV crash videos here)