New multi-rotor autopilot
Hey all,
I'm finishing up a new quadrotor/octocopter autopilot design. I just got my second revision board populated and tested. I was excited enough about it that I thought I'd share it... :-D
Some of the features of the autopilot are listed below:
1. Onboard gyros, accels, magnetometer, and absolute pressure
2. MicroSD slot for telemetry logging
3. Dual 72 Mhz ARM Cortex M3 processors (upgradeable to 120 Mhz)
4. 8 Hobby PWM outputs for motor and servo control
5. 8 i2c pinouts for connection with i2c motor controllers (Mikrokopter and AscTec controllers)
6. Connector for GPS with PPS support
7. Input for Spektrum satellite receiver
8. Three TTL UARTs routed out (2 on MCU1, 1 on MCU2)
9. SONY LANC output for controlling video cameras
10. Onboard 3.3V and 5.0V regulators (battery connects directly to the autopilot)
11. 6 additional GPIO pins routed out for future flexibility
12. Footprint compatible with the Mikrokopter autopilot
The autopilot is a full GPS-enhanced INS, running a 13-state EKF (position, velocity, attitude, heading, wind, thrust). I can't wait to get it on a quadrotor!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Akshay Verma on -
Hi Caleb,
Done a great job!
Could you share some references that you were referring?
Regards,
Akshay.
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Permalink Reply by Caleb Chamberlain on -
@Akshay,
What references are you talking about?
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Permalink Reply by Akshay Verma on
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References about autopilot design, what all instruments are included and how to design them?
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Permalink Reply by Caleb Chamberlain on
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I see. Actually, I know of no single reference that is available right now. I learned about most of this stuff while working on my MS thesis.
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Permalink Reply by Tom Yochum on -
Nice Caleb!
I have a few questions I am hoping you can answer:
Did you use the same accels and gyros from your IMU board?
Why the two processors? Is one running the GPS/IMU code and the other autopilot code?
Cost? Are you going to be selling any? Date of availability?
Is a fixed-wing version of the autopilot software also in the works?
Thanks!
Tom
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Permalink Reply by Caleb Chamberlain on
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@Tom,
Did you use the same accels and gyros from your IMU board?
Yes, I did.
Why the two processors? Is one running the GPS/IMU code and the other autopilot code?
That's right. One processor handles state estimation, while the other handles communication, control, etc.
Cost? Are you going to be selling any? Date of availability?
I originally designed it to sell as a drop-in replacement for the Mikrokopter autopilot, and as the autopilot for a potential new quadrotor product. A few higher-priority projects have taken precedence, though, so I haven't worked on this for a while. I'm hoping to pick it up again early next year. I don't have any plans for a fixed-wing autopilot in the near future.
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Permalink Reply by Sandeep Bajare on
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hi,
I need to purchase this, pls give link where it is available.
regds
sandeep
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