wetmelon
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- Jul 4, 2013
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So some time ago, I spoke with a friend of mine and he expressed a need for an inexpensive flight computer that could handle his Level 3 rockets. We came up with a list of features, and since then I've worked on building a flight computer that can handle everything he wants to throw at it. Right now we have:
The loop runs at 100hz at the moment, primarily due to some nasty undocumented performance issues with the particular IMU I chose. Future plans include a potential upgrade of the processor to one with a floating point unit, replacement of the 9-axis IMU, replacement of the 200g analog accelerometer for a digital +/- 600g accelerometer, possible integrated 933Mhz radio, possible removal of the servo outputs, higher update rate (200hz minimum), integration of GPS and Barometer data into the Kalman filter solution, possible upgrade to a special chip that offloads the EKF processing (currently not on the market, but I can get samples). Also I want to tweak the power rails a bit, likely moving to an SMPS with higher efficiency and wider input range to allow any battery you can think of. Oh, and once it's finalized, it'll be going open-source.
Anywho, just though y'all would be interested in the project. I really want to have the new version up and running ASAP, but I don't know that I can do anything with it before summer, what with school and school-related projects So we'll see.
- GPS
- +/- 200g 3-axis accelerometer
- 9-axis IMU with auto-calibrating Kalman filter (+/- 16g 3-axis accel, 3-axis Gyro, 3-axis compass)
- High accuracy, temperature-compensated barometer capable of reading 10mbar (0.145 psi), or ~ 85,000 ft
- 3x Isolated (optional 2nd battery), configurable, high-power outputs for flight events (deployment, staging)
- 4x BEC-powered servo outputs for GNC
- 6-pin Serial output for radio telemetry (With CTS, RTS)
- SD Card Logging
- Beeper/Buzzer
- Battery voltage measurement
- Capable of running on any battery > 7v, up to 16v.
- 32-bit ARM core processor running at 96 MHz
- Arduino compatible
- Fits in a 38mm body tube
The loop runs at 100hz at the moment, primarily due to some nasty undocumented performance issues with the particular IMU I chose. Future plans include a potential upgrade of the processor to one with a floating point unit, replacement of the 9-axis IMU, replacement of the 200g analog accelerometer for a digital +/- 600g accelerometer, possible integrated 933Mhz radio, possible removal of the servo outputs, higher update rate (200hz minimum), integration of GPS and Barometer data into the Kalman filter solution, possible upgrade to a special chip that offloads the EKF processing (currently not on the market, but I can get samples). Also I want to tweak the power rails a bit, likely moving to an SMPS with higher efficiency and wider input range to allow any battery you can think of. Oh, and once it's finalized, it'll be going open-source.
Anywho, just though y'all would be interested in the project. I really want to have the new version up and running ASAP, but I don't know that I can do anything with it before summer, what with school and school-related projects So we'll see.