Hi everyone!
I'm not affiliated with the OpenPilot project, but I figured it couldn't hurt to spread the knowledge - the OpenPilot Revolution ('Revo') platform is available for a limited time (orders close on November 5th).
The Revo is a very capable flight controller, based on the STM32F4 MCU, with a great IMU, built-in telemetry radio and a 5hz GPS.
I suggest you head on to http://www.openpilot.org for more information, but the basic costs are under 200$ for a complete kit (flight controller with onboard radio and GPS + ground station radio module).
Comments
I am not bashing. I am stating that small scale - close hardware = weird. Thats all R_Lefebvre. Nothing in my comments = flaming, bashing. If a project is open source then please - provide all of the project as open source so others can benefit from it. That's all I am saying.
From the linked website you can pre-order a board, same as I did for APM. I don't understand the negativity, diversity in the market only helps the end consumer (this community), no? Looks like they are starting to get their HW distribution together. I'm happy for them, same as I am for 3DR and the success of APM.
Guys please, let's not turn this into a bashing thread.
They produce a solid program, and they have a different perspective on how to handle the hardware. I would have bought one myself when I got started, but I couldn't so... here I am.
It is what it is. No need for flames.
Small scale niche doesn't make sense. If only a few fly them, and only a few support around community model then how do you expect success. I did not say it had to be large-scale - what I am saying is do what Ardupilot 1 did and through the eagle files up to say a SparkFun - let them produce at scale and take a cut. Stop small scale production just to control what supposedly is open source... weird way to operate IMHO, and a very bad use of the Open Source moniker!
Then there's no sense in developing anything at all. They should take up sewing and knitting instead... if they're just trying to keep their hands busy...
OP isnt reaching for large commercial sales like other projects. There are no fulltime employees, thus it makes no sense to produce at large-scale as there would be no one around to support it.
Flying Monkey nails it, these guys produce such a small batch no one can get their hands on it. So to me this is not worth the hassle unless they can market better and have solid inventory in-stock.
Open Source, Closed Sales... Lol...
Ita, the MPU6000 is already doing the oversampling and filtering internally. So I'm not sure how much advantage there would be there.
Being able to run an EKF might be, however. Also true 400Hz ESC updating.
Anyway, I'm glad they finally will bring something to market, a lot of people have been waiting a long time.
If all you're after is manual flying - you don't need a 32 bit MCU.
You might not even need a 6 DoF IMU.
If you want greater autonomy, you need better sensors and better algorithms.
This is why several autopilot platforms have moved to the STM32F4 - it has a really fast MCU (168Mhz), with hardware floating point, and a very fast ADC - so it is finally possible to oversample your sensors and use the best attitude estimation and control algorithms (those can easily eat up your resources).
TL;DR - it's not for everyone, but if your use case can benefit from the better accuracy - you'll feel the difference.
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