Drone Autopilot

Solution

We designed a circuit board based on the Atmel AVR XMEGA microcontroller, which was much smaller than the other analogs in existence at that time. Despite its size, we managed to pack in everything you need for an autopilot system including a gyroscope, accelerometer, pressure sensor, GPS, and a barometer. 

The device we designed runs ported and customized ArduPilot firmware written in C/C++ (AVR Studio IDE). The firmware works with a native host PC application called MissionPlanner. It's a great tool for setting up drones and planning flight missions.

Scope of work

Technologies Used

• ATXmega series MCU with AVR core was used for this project.
• Altium Designer IDE was used for Schematics and PCB design.
• The firmware was implemented using C/C++.
• AVR Studio IDE was used for firmware implementation.
• For precision positioning GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer, and DCM (Direction cosine matrix) based algorithms are used.
• The device has 6 RC inputs for remote control equipment like RC radio receivers, and 6 RC outputs to control motor controllers, servos, etc.
• The device has several buttons, switches, and LEDs.

Result

The device we delivered is an autopilot system for a drone that controls all peripherals, actuators, and motors. It enables remote control and autonomous completion of flights. It is a great choice for people who prefer to buy ready-to-use quadcopters rather than building DIY drones from scratch.

 

 

 

 

 

Device appearance

The circuit board for the Drone Autopilot has a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, a pressure sensor, and GPS on board. It has up to six radio control inputs to receive control from the radio control receiver and up to six radio control outputs to control motors and/or servos. The board has four external serial interfaces to connect extra modules.