One of the most important parts of the drone system is the flight controller. This is a combination of software and hardware to control the performance of a flight. Since This project is to demonstrate the prototype for our drone-based delivery service, we are going to create a much more basic and cheaper version of the flight control to perform some basic functions.
What is a flight controller?
Simply, this is a central hardware unit that manages all the control functions of an unmanned aerial vehicle. A flight controller is generally in charge of the flight performances such as :
- stabilization – Manages the immediate stabilization of the UAV by adjusting motor speeds based on sensor inputs from gyroscopes, accelerometers, and other basic sensors.
- manual control – Processes user commands from a remote control or ground station to control the UAV’s movements.
- basic autonomous functions – Handles simple pre-programmed manoeuvres, such as waypoint navigation and return-to-home functions.
The difference between a Flight Controller and a Flight Computer
these two components sound similar to each other. But, these two are performing two different functions in a drone.
A flight computer acts as a central processing unit for a drone. main purpose or task of a flight computer is to store and handle complex algorithms and computations for advanced autonomous functions. flight computer is used in more advanced autonomous drone systems. some of the tasks that this system can manage are obstacle detection and avoidance, path planning, mapping, and other specified functions for the drone system.
A flight controller is much simpler than a flight computer. it is used to perform basic drone manoeuvres, such as stabilization, manual control and basic autonomous functions.
The main controller components are sensors for collecting/sending data and a microcontroller unit for receiving, analysing and performing actions.
In our prototype, we are using a flight controller as well as a flight computer.
Our flight controller is based on several components. As this is a DIY(Do-It-Yourself) flight controller unit, we are also creating a much cheaper version of it. preferred cost is around 60AUD(50 USD).
parts:
- Arduino mini micro-controller – Nano V3.0 ATmega328P CH340G | 5V 16M Type-C Port Module| Micro Controller Board
- Arduino MPU 6050 – Accelerometer and Gyroscope
- Arduino BMP 180 – a basic sensor that is designed specifically for measuring atmospheric pressure.BMP180 can measure barometric pressure from 300 to 1100 hPa (9000m to -500m above sea level), and temperature from -40°C to 85°C with ±1.0°C accuracy.
- Arduino HMC 5883L – 3-Axis Digital Compass
- Arduino HC 05 – a Bluetooth module.
In this simple project, we are going to connect these Arduino modules with each others to create a basic flight controller.
As in the previous diagram, this is how the modules connect to create the flight controller hardware. As this project is to create the prototype for our new company on drone tech, I am not going to describe every step in detail.
there is also a simple programming part to make functions of the flight controller. si will post the source code for Arduino IDE on my GitHub profile and update this publication.
In part -3 we will talk about Autonomous drone technology and the flight computer.