OpenPilot
Encyclopedia
OpenPilot is a Free software
unmanned aerial vehicle
project for model aircraft aimed at supporting both multi-rotor craft as well as fixed wing aircraft. Initially founded by David Ankers, Angus Peart and Vassilis Varveropoulos in late 2009, OpenPilot was conceived as both a learning tool and to address areas the developers perceived were lacking in other small UAV platforms.
The OpenPilot software is released under the GPL version 3 license.
. The firmware part of the project is written in C
whilst the Ground Control Station
is written in C++
utilising the Qt Toolkit
.
Microcontroller
. There are two physical boards that are part of the hardware solution, the first is the main OpenPilot board which contains the core Microcontroller
, SD
socket, barometer
plus servo
connectors and second, the AHRS board which contains the sensor hardware.
gyroscopes, accelerometers and a 3 direction magnetometer. Combined with the sensors, the OpenPilot AHRS contains its own Cortex M3
Microcontroller
which runs a Kalman filter
. Filtered orientation data and inertial measurements are presented back to the main OpenPilot board using an SPI
interface.
The OpenPilot AHRS contains the following components:
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
unmanned aerial vehicle
Unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
project for model aircraft aimed at supporting both multi-rotor craft as well as fixed wing aircraft. Initially founded by David Ankers, Angus Peart and Vassilis Varveropoulos in late 2009, OpenPilot was conceived as both a learning tool and to address areas the developers perceived were lacking in other small UAV platforms.
The OpenPilot software is released under the GPL version 3 license.
Components
The OpenPilot project consists of two component parts, these are the on-board firmware and the Ground Control StationGround control station
A ground control station is a land- or sea-based control center that provides the facilities for human control of unmanned vehicles in the air or in space. A GCS could be used to control unmanned aerial vehicles or rockets within or above the atmosphere....
. The firmware part of the project is written in C
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
whilst the Ground Control Station
Ground control station
A ground control station is a land- or sea-based control center that provides the facilities for human control of unmanned vehicles in the air or in space. A GCS could be used to control unmanned aerial vehicles or rockets within or above the atmosphere....
is written in C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
utilising the Qt Toolkit
Qt (toolkit)
Qt is a cross-platform application framework that is widely used for developing application software with a graphical user interface , and also used for developing non-GUI programs such as command-line tools and consoles for servers...
.
Hardware
The current on-board hardware is a custom designed solution based on the STM32ARM architecture
ARM is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by ARM Holdings. It was named the Advanced RISC Machine, and before that, the Acorn RISC Machine. The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit ISA in numbers produced...
Microcontroller
Microcontroller
A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit containing a processor core, memory, and programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a typically small amount of RAM...
. There are two physical boards that are part of the hardware solution, the first is the main OpenPilot board which contains the core Microcontroller
Microcontroller
A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit containing a processor core, memory, and programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a typically small amount of RAM...
, SD
Secure Digital
Secure Digital is a non-volatile memory card format developed by the SD Card Association for use in portable devices. The SD technology is used by more than 400 brands across dozens of product categories and more than 8,000 models, and is considered the de-facto industry standard.Secure Digital...
socket, barometer
Barometer
A barometer is a scientific instrument used in meteorology to measure atmospheric pressure. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather...
plus servo
Servomechanism
thumb|right|200px|Industrial servomotorThe grey/green cylinder is the [[Brush |brush-type]] [[DC motor]]. The black section at the bottom contains the [[Epicyclic gearing|planetary]] [[Reduction drive|reduction gear]], and the black object on top of the motor is the optical [[rotary encoder]] for...
connectors and second, the AHRS board which contains the sensor hardware.
AHRS
The OpenPilot AHRS is a 9DOF unit and contains MEMSMicroelectromechanical systems
Microelectromechanical systems is the technology of very small mechanical devices driven by electricity; it merges at the nano-scale into nanoelectromechanical systems and nanotechnology...
gyroscopes, accelerometers and a 3 direction magnetometer. Combined with the sensors, the OpenPilot AHRS contains its own Cortex M3
ARM architecture
ARM is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by ARM Holdings. It was named the Advanced RISC Machine, and before that, the Acorn RISC Machine. The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit ISA in numbers produced...
Microcontroller
Microcontroller
A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit containing a processor core, memory, and programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a typically small amount of RAM...
which runs a Kalman filter
Kalman filter
In statistics, the Kalman filter is a mathematical method named after Rudolf E. Kálmán. Its purpose is to use measurements observed over time, containing noise and other inaccuracies, and produce values that tend to be closer to the true values of the measurements and their associated calculated...
. Filtered orientation data and inertial measurements are presented back to the main OpenPilot board using an SPI
Serial Peripheral Interface Bus
The Serial Peripheral Interface Bus or SPI bus is a synchronous serial data link standard named by Motorola that operates in full duplex mode. Devices communicate in master/slave mode where the master device initiates the data frame. Multiple slave devices are allowed with individual slave select ...
interface.
The OpenPilot AHRS contains the following components:
- STM32STM32STM32 is a family of multiple series of microcontroller ICs, by STMicroelectronics , based on the 32-bit RISC Cortex-M3 and Cortex-M4F cores from ARM Holdings...
Onboard (STM32F103C8) - 3x ADXRS610 Rate Gyros
- 1x HMC5843 Magnetometer
- 1x LIS344ALH 3-Axis Accelerometer