Posted by Kyle Corbitt on March 31, 2009 at 10:05pm
Hey all, I'm new around here, but I've been following the blog for quite some time and I'm excited to see the strength of this community!I am very interested in expanding the capabilities of the ArduPilot platform and I've got some specific modifications that I've been mulling over. I would really appreciate thoughts from people who know more than I do about the viability of some of these ideas.1. Replace the infrared thermopile sensors with a full 6DOF IMU. Specifically, I am looking at a combination of this 5-DOF board with this one-axis gyro. My primary concern with this modification is the limited processor... does anyone know how much space is left on the microprocessor after all of the current code is uploaded, or how taxing the current algorithms are? I'm not sure whether it will be necessary to add a second processor or upgrade to the more powerful Atmega1280 that is used in the Arduino MEGA.2. Switch to an xbee module for both flight control and telemetry feedback in lieu of a traditional RC radio. This allows a computer to be used as the plane's controller, and would allow the operator to reprogram waypoints on the fly (no pun intended) as well as augment "manual" flight in interesting ways. My biggest concern about this is bandwidth: the xbee 900 module I've been looking at (15 mile range in ideal conditions!) has a listed bandwidth of 10kbps, and I'm not sure if that will be sufficient for realtime control. Comments?3. Integrate an FPV-like camera as one of the plane's sensors. The plane could use a dedicated video transmitter (already common with FPV flyers) to transmit video to the control computer, which would in turn process the video stream and relay realtime instructions back to the plane. Onboard processing would be a nicety, but I don't think it's realistic with the budget that most of us hobbyists are looking at.These modifications are certainly unnecessary if all you want to do is fly to a particular location and take a few photos... but on the other hand, I believe that they would turn the Ardupilot into a world-class autopilot at the cost of only a few hundred dollars. Anyone else interested?
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1) ArduPilot Pro will be based on the Arduino Mega platform and will offer an IMU as an option. That's due towards the end of the year. There's not enough memory in the 168 for an IMU, but when we switch the the 328 in a month or two, it would be possible. If you don't want to wait for us to do it, you're welcome to code it yourself. We're planning to port Bill Premerlani's IMU code.
2) ArduPilot only has one serial port, which is used by the GPS and downstream telemetry. There is no port for upstream commands. That would have to wait for ArduPilot Pro, too.
Replies
Cool !
2) ArduPilot only has one serial port, which is used by the GPS and downstream telemetry. There is no port for upstream commands. That would have to wait for ArduPilot Pro, too.
3) Ditto.