Hi all,
I was wondering what happens if you do not use the IMU.
Can the Ardupilot still fly just not autonomously? or is the imu nessacary?
If I were to make my own IMU what all information would I need to send to the Red Board? (acceleration, attitude, altitude, ect.)
How feasable is all of this?
Any help or comments would be greatly appriciated
Replies
Hi Chase,
The IMU (inertial measurement unit) measure acceleration and rotation of the aircraft. It sends acceleration and rotation information to the autopilot and the autopilot uses that information to orient itself.To put it simply the autopilot wouldn't know which way is up without an IMU. If you don't know which way is up, you wouldn't know which way to point the plane to keep it in the sky, much less get from point A to point B.
If you don't want to use an IMU you can use thermopiles which uses infrared sensors to measure where the horizon is relative to the aircraft. This is what the ardupilot originally used from the way I understand it. Either way you will need some kind of sensor to help orient the plane or else you cannot stabilize the aircraft, which is a pre-requisite for getting the autopilot to work.
if you don't know a lot about programming micro controllers and wiring up the hardware, I would recommend getting a unit that is compatible with the ardupilot and get that to work. Building your own IMU is not trivial.
-Alan