Loomio
Sat 26 Nov 2016 1:21AM

Auto Pilot & Sensors

OL Oriol López Public Seen by 328

Discussion regarding the platform for the autopilot, sensor to integrate and mission planner

OL

Oriol López Sat 26 Nov 2016 2:28AM

The way to go is Ardupilot, the most standardized open source platform.
ardupilot.org/

ardupilot

Initially ardupilot was composed of an arduino mega (a very simple computer with the ports to connect sensors) + the sensors to fly all of them integraed.

It has gyroscopes and accelerometers (IMU - Innertial Measurement Unit) to know it's self position and movements in a space, a compass to orientate in the earth and connection for an external GPS to know the location in the world. It also has a barometer to know the altitude (combined with the GPS). With this platform and software you are able to plug into a robot and do basic navigation. You also have the possibility to integrate other sensors eg: laser altimeter for precision landing, airspeed sensor, obstacle sensor...

If you want to build a quadcopter, you need a frame and those components
quadcopter

Once the drone is build, you need to enter into the comptuer and setup the configuration
apm config

The original ardupilot is now outdated and the actual board is called Pixhawk
pixhawk
pixhawk connections