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The distributors finally got in some of the new ST Micro STM32F2 series uControllers and I grabbed a few. I was able to "shoehorn" one into a ver5 board as the pinout is close to compatible with the performance STM32F1 series. Spent a few days rewriting the device drivers and am very impressed with this controller's performance.

I was able to bump up the sample rate to around 276.8KHz for all 12 sensors for a total of ~3.32 million samples per second. Despite this more than doubling of work load, I ended up with around 70% idle time, up from 60% of the STM32F1. Keep in mind that at a 120MHz clock rate, this 70% free cycles represents more than twice as much free number crunching capability than the STM32F1 at 60% idle. I also found that the DMA to be much better with full FIFO available on each DMA channel and an easier to use triple ADC.

The result is a much cleaner interpretation of the sensor data which translates to a smoother and more stable platform.

Take a look at this short demo of the STM32F215 in a hex frame:

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Comments

Patrick Koegel July 12, 2011 at 2:39am

I looked at you scematics and I'm wondering why at the LD2985BM33R the Inhibit Pin is left openbecause in de datasheet it says that it has to be connected to Vin.
Bill Nesbitt July 11, 2011 at 5:17pm

Wim: Turnigy hardware, modified firmware

Patrick: I'll detail the V6 change in a new post once they are finalized
Patrick Koegel July 10, 2011 at 7:33am

What will be the difference between V5 and V6?
Wim July 10, 2011 at 2:58am

Bill, were you using turnigy plush ESC for that hexa?
Tom July 9, 2011 at 8:40am

Bill all i need to no is where can i buy one of these good job Tom
Bill Nesbitt July 8, 2011 at 6:14am

srinath: I try to avoid Matlab as it is slow. All of my testing and filter code is done in straight C using libraries that I have developed over time. If find that for maximum performance, a UKF needs to be properly tuned which can sometimes be difficult. PM me for more info.

Ludovico: Flight tests are conducted at a top secret testing facility somewhere in the eastern US :) Actually it is an ideal place as it is slightly GPS deprived due to surrounding mountains and the wind is generally unpredictable - keeps you on your toes.
Ludovico Antonio July 8, 2011 at 3:45am

Awesome job, and BTW, were was this video taken? the landscape and free space looks awesome 0.0
srinath mallikarjunan July 7, 2011 at 7:38pm

Awesome job Bill

I am interested in joining this project. I want to contribute to the state estimator design and improving the control law.
I typically implement all the state-estimators as S-Functions in Simulink, before porting it on board. Is this how you do it? I currently have an EKF for ins-gps integration, my UKF seems to perform only on par with the EKF.
Bill Nesbitt July 7, 2011 at 3:53pm

Patrick: V5 was 4 layers, V6 is looking like it will have to be 6 layers to get everything I want in it to fit.
Patrick Koegel July 7, 2011 at 12:10pm

Very impressive. I know for myself that it is hard to get a good GPS Performance. But yours is really good.

I will try to build one of you boards. How many layers do you use.

Regards

Patrick

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