Quad-Copter Development Board

Max Doherty – [email protected] Quad-Copter Development Board.

Background In the past open-source quad-copter flight boards have been built to operate with arduino open-source microprocessors as their base.

That scheme offered a rich code base with many input-output pins on which researchers could develop.

Because of the limitations in Arduinos' AVR microprocessors' power, recent and thus most up-to-date flight boards are custom creations using 32bit processors.

These faster processors are necessary to achieve the speed (200Hz) necessary to process sensor data into usable telemetry.

For researchers, these boards create many limitations including: code is harder to update, IO pins are fully or mostly accounted for, and they are not compatible with Arduino shields and accessories.

Recent advances Arduino released Due microcontroller based on 32bit ARM processor.

New chips such as MPU-9150 offer integrated sensor fusion

Goal Design and build a sensor and control shield for the Arduino Due that utilizes the latest systems to create a platform suitable to quad-copter research.

Port existing quad-copter code base to use sensor fusion data and ARM processor for increased performance.

Benefits of this system Being able to off-load speed requirements allows for more complex algorithms to be run on the CPU while still minimizing sensor drift.

The Due brings a plethora of research advantages including faster clock speed and more memory, as well as built-in handling for many additional peripherals including USART, TWI, PWM, CAN, USB, and HSMCI.

These advances would allow for more stable flight and better interaction with the environment.