Right now, the board supports 6 servos, 3 gyros, a 3 axis accelerometer, the EM406A, the HMC5843, and the SCP1000. A 6 pin expansion header can be configured into anything digital, from UART to I2C to PWM.
I received a Century Swift 16 that will be used as the platform, The pictures have the 1W 900mhz transmitter module for scale (4"x1.5").
Larger: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4664675457_d242380fd8_b.jpg
larger: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1269/4664675427_e1b6820c1c_b.jpg
larger: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4664675447_4272b54885_b.jpg
The motor on the platform is currently a CNE274 (http://www.centuryheli.com/products/productdetail.htm?prtnm=CNE274¤tid=510) with a 9 tooth pinion. I plan on running a 6S setup with:
3x http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idProduct=9439
and tail: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idProduct=9980
Comments
Amazing work!
-John
(not affiliated with XMOS, I just like parallel processing applications)
I've personally tried both below the main shaft and on the beginning of the tail boom and I didn't find it significantly different in either place but that could easily be because for me it's the main rotor that's causing the problem. You can of course determine the source of the vibration by removing everything (main blade, tail, engine pinion) and then adding them back on piece by piece and measuring each elements effect.
Again, good luck!
I have some ideas involving advanced control (i.e. aerobatics like: http://heli.stanford.edu/) which would need the multi cored technology (Stanford calculated everything on the ground, the heli was a slave device) and some more power, so that is why I am scratch building it. (Plus, I like doing entire systems my self rather than relying on other parts).
I think I got vibration under control. Multiple layers of foam, rubber grommets, etc..
On the topic of vibration, am I right in saying that vibration will be less directly under the main shaft vs on the beginning of the tail boom?
Thanks for the comments/advice.
For example, instead of using xmos for the CPU, how about using the ArduMega and pairing that with the "oilpan":
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=9710
http://store.diydrones.com/product_p/br-0012-01.htm
Some other advice:
a) make sure you can fly the helicopter yourself first using a normal transmitter, etc
b) tackle the vibration problem that everyone gets stuck on as soon as possible. Just try putting the accelerometer and gyros on the heli, fire up the engines and see how bad the vibration is. All the other work to build the perfect board, design the control and attitude logic is 'out the window' if you can't get the vibration under control.
Good luck no matter what you decide. Looking forward to hearing more about your project.
Daniel