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Hardware Overview. Autopilot Control Board- Serves as common platform for other components and has autopilot code and flight plans Battery- Powers the board and servos as well as motor Modem/Antenna- Facilitate communications Ground Control Station- Used to control UAV midflight
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Hardware Overview • Autopilot Control Board- Serves as common platform for other components and has autopilot code and flight plans • Battery- Powers the board and servos as well as motor • Modem/Antenna- Facilitate communications • Ground Control Station- Used to control UAV midflight • GPS- Used for altitude and navigating to waypoints • IR Sensors- Determines control movements • Motor and Controller- Manages the motor functioning • Servos- Adjust control surfaces
Autopilot Control Board (Tiny) • The main control board is the Tiny v2.11 is the brain of the UAV and controls: • Servos (via Pulse-pulse-modulation) • Infrared sensors • GPS • Any applicable payload (CAM) • The autopilot board design is released by and updated by the Paparazzi development team
Battery • 2100mAh 11.1V Li-Poly battery • 6.1 – 18 VDC autopilot input voltage
Datalink Radio(Modem & Antenna) • Autopilot – Groundstation communication • Serial channel
GPS Receiver • Receiver & Antenna built into autopilot • uBlox LEA-4 serial receiver – 4Hz update
GPS configuration • Proprietary control software
IR Sensors • One x-y sensor + one z sensor • Each axis is a thermopile pair • Differential output from each pair
IR Sensor Modification • Driven by 3.3V instead of 5V • Changes amplifier gain • Replace biasing resistors for unity gain
Motor & Controller • Brushless motor and electronic speed control
Servos • Hitec HS-55 servos
Payload • We never officially implemented a payload, though this would not require extensive work • Ostensibly, we would have added a camera to feed back images or video over the modem • Due to data transmission rate limitations (9600 baudrate) any video taken would be of very low quality, though images could certainly be sent at a decent frequency • Payload would likely be placed on the side of the modem transmitter beneath and partially embedded in a wing
Software Setup • Paparazzi software requires Debian based Linux distribution • We used Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy Heron” for all our testing • Can build source locally or install prebuilt binary package
Install Bootloader • Bootloader must be flashed to a new board before it can be programmed • Allows Tiny to be programmed via USB • Flashed via custom serial cable • This procedure only needs to be done once per board
Program GPS Receiver • Install GPS Tunnel Program to Tiny • Allows direct communication to GPS Receiver • Program GPS using U-BLOX software • Uses custom serial cable • Software runs on Windows
Programming Autopilot • Tiny is programmed directly from the Paparazzi software • Configuration files are modified and tuned as required for a given configuration • Direct USB connection to Tiny