Multi platform APM

I am currently attempting to alter APM to work with my tilt rotor UAV. Unfortunately. Due to the complexity of tiltrotor flight, and my limited experience with the APM architecture I would love any help/advice with my software changes. 

There are several aspects of my design that APM cannot support without extensive software modification. To overcome the various issues with my system I have settled on a multiple processor architecture. I would like to configure APM such that it outputs the desired velocity and acceleration of the vehicle (in each axis) to a separate MCU which translates the data to individual servo / esc commands. This way I will be able to take advantage of all the handy functions that make Arudupilot so appealing (autopilot, PID control, navigation, downlink, ground control etc).

Altering APM itself to support two swash plates and various control surfaces in both hovering and forward flight is beyond my ability but translating desired velocity/accel data to control surface commands In my own external MCU is something that I am perfectly capable of. 

Another advantage of Configuring APM to output desired vel/accel via spy or serial is the relative ease with which it could be integrated into almost any vehicle (sub, boat, lawnmower, etc) All that would be required is a MCU configured to the individual application and APM, rather than an overhaul of the APM code itself.

What I am struggling with is Getting APM to output the data that I need as I do not have the understanding of the APM that I would like (my experiences is in avionics integration and aerodynamics, not software) and any help would be appreciated.

-Jacob

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Replies

  • 3D Robotics

    Wouldn't it be easier to just modify the APM output tables to control the servos/motors directly? I can't think of an easy way to do what you describe. 

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