Blogs

Octopilot -- Open source propeller-based autopilot

Posted by Ben Levitt on December 3, 2008 at 11:24pm
small.jpgOctopilot is open source autopilot hardware and software for radio controlled planes. It is based on the Parallax Propeller microcontroller, and uses a 5-degrees-of-freedom IMU plus a GPS and proximity sensor to stabilize and navigate your plane.It can be enabled/disabled through an extra channel/switch on your transmitter, and when switched on, stabilizes the plane and navigates it back to the starting location, where it will circle. It can also optionally trigger external actions, like taking a photo or dropping an item, when it reaches a waypoint.Coming soon: multiple waypoints, stabilization of inverted flight, on-board TV-out, and more.If you're interested in helping out, there's lots to be done! Swing on over to the project page and join the octopilot group.http://code.google.com/p/octopilot/
Tags: autopilot, octopilot, parallax, propeller
E-mail me when people leave their comments –
Follow

You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!

Join diydrones

Comments

  • Ben Levitt December 4, 2008 at 3:11pm
    It's controlling a small electric park flyer. My main battery is connected to my Electronic Speed Controller (ESC). My ESC is connected to the 3-pin throttle servo channel on the octopilot board. This servo cable provides the octopilot board with 5V power from the BEC built into the ESC.
  • JC December 4, 2008 at 12:33pm
    How are you powering the board BEC or external batt?
  • Ben Levitt December 4, 2008 at 9:36am
    Good question. :) It's not soldered to the board. It just plugs into a 3x6 pin socket, which *is* soldered to the board. The receiver costs about $50, but I already had this receiver in the plane that I'm using for this project. It should work with any receiver that allows setting a failsafe throttle value, which is the throttle value that gets used if the receiver stops being able to hear the transmitter. And that's just to allow the board to know to switch back from manual to autopilot in this situation, which I guess is optional, but it seems important to me.
  • Remco Bos December 4, 2008 at 5:54am
    Looks nice,

    I see you use a spektrum reciever.is it solderd to the board?
    What will it cost?

    Remco
This reply was deleted.