Gumstix releases PX4-compatible Linux flight controller board

Thanks to Chris Crews in the forums, a new AeroCore from Gumstix. $199

The AeroCore from Gumstix offers everyone from enthusiasts to educators the opportunity to power their very own micro-aerial vehicle. With an ARM Cortex-M4 microcontroller running NuttX RTOS and an integrated connection for award-winning DuoVero series computers-on-module, AeroCore gives users a complete Linux installation on a PX4-compatible platform.

2 x 70-pin Hirose DF40 Connectors	70-pin Hirose DF40 Connectors (Expansion side)
24-Pin Header	8xPWM Outputs
40-pin header	GPIO/Breakout and Power
6-Pin Header	Cortex-M4 SPI Breakout
Accelerometer	3-Axis Accelerometer + 3-Axis Magnetometer
Barometer	Included
Gyroscope	3-Axis Angular Rate Sensor
Processor	ARM Cortex-M4 Microcontroller
USB OTG	USB Micro-AB Connector

Andrew Simpson from Gumstix adds some details in the comments:

I work at Gumstix and the AeroCore is so new that it won't even be officially announced until tomorrow morning!

The AeroCore is a DuoVero expansion board that can also be used standalone; the onboard microcontroller is the same as the one on the PX4FMU (STM32F4 series Cortex-M4), but some of the sensors are different (full tech. specs here).

I'm not very familiar (read: not at all!) with ArduPilot/APM and AP-HAL software, but I'm sure it can be made to work on the AeroCore with a little bit of effort. We're hoping the AeroCore will be a good choice for developers who want to do some interesting, high-level stuff in the air.

Thanks! Let us know if you've got more questions!

Andrew Simpson
Content Developer
Gumstix, Inc.

This is actually really similar to a board that I made:

http://buildandcrash.blogspot.com/2012/11/assembly-and-first-flight...

And I have to say, the combination is phenominally useful. Maybe not as much for end users, but for generally getting high quality data and being able to run more sophisticated analyses. Mine logs every single sensor sample and inter-module update which is super useful for algorithm development. I can essentially replay flights through new filters and avoid real crashes :).

For example all the plots here:

Tau Labs Altitude Hold Refinement

And here http://forum.taulabs.org/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=99&p=1010#p1010 for example we can test new system identification code without crashing or a slow development cycle.

So this seems like it will be a really useful platform, although if it misses a mag that will definitely be lacking.

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Comments

Noli Sicad April 15, 2014 at 12:00am

2 interesting dev doc for Odroid U3 and Pixhawk (below),

http://pixhawk.org/peripherals/onboard_computers/odroid_u3

http://dev.ardupilot.com/wiki/odroid-via-mavlink/
Developer

Kabir April 14, 2014 at 10:47pm

Check out my hybrid system. I've upgraded to a Odroid u3 and should also be getting a Pixhawk soon : http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/a-60-min-flying-quad-with-hd-fp...
James Cotton April 14, 2014 at 8:33pm

Oh. On the page it says:

Accelerometer
3-Axis Accelerometer + 3-Axis Magnetometer
James Cotton April 14, 2014 at 8:32pm

This is actually really similar to a board that I made:

http://buildandcrash.blogspot.com/2012/11/assembly-and-first-flight...

And I have to say, the combination is phenominally useful. Maybe not as much for end users, but for generally getting high quality data and being able to run more sophisticated analyses. Mine logs every single sensor sample and inter-module update which is super useful for algorithm development. I can essentially replay flights through new filters and avoid real crashes :).

For example all the plots here:

Tau Labs Altitude Hold Refinement

And here http://forum.taulabs.org/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=99&p=1010#p1010 for example we can test new system identification code without crashing or a slow development cycle.

So this seems like it will be a really useful platform, although if it misses a mag that will definitely be lacking.

Freedom: Assembly and First Flight :)

Update: See this post for an example of utilizing the overo extension or this for examples of log analysis in python So it was a lo...
Gary McCray April 14, 2014 at 8:22pm

There are likely to be quite a few PX4 like things in the future and no doubt many of them will get a properly redefined APM HAL to work with them.

It should be understood that as it stands, this baord is basically a standalone and pretty complete PX4 derived board (where is the magnetometer?) and that the add on Gumstix is sort of like adding an ODroid U3 to a Pixhawk.

In fact the only important thing really lacking from that analogy is that the Gumstix only supports SD card memory, not EMMC which is a real shame because the EMMC is 5 to 10 times faster than SD.

Still, this could be one dynamite combo with sufficient headroom for real image processing and SLAM.

Considering the Beagle Bone Black with Pixhawk Fire Cape and the ODroid U3 and this, the capabilities are really getting interesting now and Linux on board looks like the way forward.

Interesting Times,

Gary
Ian April 14, 2014 at 6:10pm

Don't take this the wrong way, but why would you go through the development cycles and release a product that "might" work with the PX4 if that was your target in the first place? Why not look into this from the beginning? You state having no working knowledge of the APM APM/HAL, might be good to develop a prototype, check with the developers, establish the sensors you are choosing will be OK? It seems a bit late to do this once the product is in the final release stage, I assume full production run with no idea if it will work with any flight control software out there?
Jack Crossfire April 14, 2014 at 4:59pm

Sort of sad to see another STM32 board come from these guys.

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