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ArduIMU now available!

Posted by Chris Anderson on September 22, 2009 at 12:36pm

At last, the long-awaited ArduIMU is available! You can buy the hardware here (the first batch sold out within minutes, but he's making more quickly). The software is in beta, and you can find it here. It is, as promised, $99, making it the first sub-$100 AHRS in the world! Proper documentation is coming soon, but here are the highlights: Features -3 Axis Accelerometer -3 Axis Gyroscopes -Arduino Compatible (Atmega328 onboard) -Source Code included and Open Source! -Power LED (Green) -Status LEDs (Red, Blue, Yellow) -SPI port available for more sensors. -GPS port (uBlox ready!) -Code based on Bill Premerlani's Direction Cosine Matrix This is actually considered a full Attitude Heading Reference System, because it is IMU hardware plus the software to interpret the sensor readings and convert them into absolute attitude and heading information. The output is a serial ASCII string with raw sensor values and the DCM matrix values. You would use this with an autopilot board to convert those matrix values into commands for the your control surfaces. The board works without the GPS module, but in that case the yaw readings are unreliable. If you add the GPS, the yaw is corrected. We will be releasing a magnetometer module to do the same thing indoors.
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Comments

  • T3
    Krzysztof Bosak September 22, 2009 at 2:01pm
    IMU is a set of sensors: accelero and gyros, sometimes also magnetometers (Inertial Measurement Unit). AHRS Is Attitude/Heading Reference System, a set of IMU sensors capable of fusioning all sensor types and outputting the angles.
    Aviation AHRS is an AHRS capable of maintaining its reference frame during flight, typically requiring external additional input data like airspeed.
    IMU-capable autopilot is an autopilot with control loops adjusted for IMU operation, guaranteeing stabilisation that is not amplifying IMU artifacts in all possible flight phases.
  • Moderator
    Gary Mortimer September 22, 2009 at 1:45pm
    Well done
  • Chris Lane September 22, 2009 at 1:42pm
    Hi! I'm new looking into all this stuff for my senior project. Is this pretty much a shield kit+ XYZ sensors put in one? Whats the difference? and what does IMU and AHRS mean? Thanks a lot! :D
  • NorthSweden September 22, 2009 at 1:26pm
    Sweet.

    Can´t wait to get one and then throw away the IR sensors.
This reply was deleted.