My Idea is to have a UAV that is piloted by a PC based auto pilot. The hardware i was thinking of is a VIA based nano-itx form factor motherboard using USB or serial plug in sensors. My question is that i have not been able to find any open source auto pilot software that would allow me to do this. I am not a programmer literally i have never coded a single line, and time does not allow me to learn. My thought is that I could use easy to find commercial plug and play type hardware so it is modular so if there is a failure in the field all one would have to do is to go to the local computer store and purchase a new component. I am not worried about OS platform i am versed in windows, dos, and linux. Another aspect of having this type of setup would be the ability to have on board video processing for HD video control over 802.11 etc. also for my project weight is not such a big deal i will be using a large or a giant scale airframe. Another idea would to have the ability to "Air Drop" a small payload such as a hand held radio in a Search and Rescue mission. Or a First aid/Survival Kit. Any thoughts on an airframe? Thanks In advance.
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There isn't much in this domain--most autopilots are based on embedded processors. Even those that use an OS need a real-time OS, so Windows/Mac/Linux are generally not a good choice. But five or six years ago somebody released some code for the Gumstix running Linux, which is at least Intel-based. I don't think it ever flew, but it's a start.
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