Spoke with Mieszko to further solidify project requirements
Mieszko has stated that a drone is still of high importance to him
Drone licensing is considerably more difficult than originally anticipated, requiring an exam which would take weeks to study for.
Mieszko has indicated that he would be comfortable taking the test in the future, if necessary.
Drone licensing is not required if we fly inside, so we will target indoor use cases for now (Mieszko may integrate outdoor flight in the future).
FPGA/ML Platform Status
Broke down FPGA selection into three options:
Department-provided Zynq FPGA ($0): Mieszko has provided a (reasonably light) board which will need an expansion board for video, but is otherwise fairly capable.
Nexys Video Artix-7 FPGA (~$500): An FPGA platform which has more powerful video capture/processing capabilities.
Microsemi PolarFire FPGA kit (~$1500): An all-in-one solution which has a camera integrated, and exhibits considerable power savings.
Drone Status
Muchen has developed a parts list for a drone capable of lifting approximately 1-2 kg for roughly 20 minutes, costing ~$300.
He will further experiment with lift/load calculations using his personal drone.