Quadcopter-Project

Quadcopter Group Design Project repository.

Project Structure

The project is split into 4 modules:

• Autopilot
• Grabber
• Instruments
• Logger

These are each implemented in the QuadControl sketch.

Logger

The Logger module allows for easy logging of information to the SD card and to the Serial monitor.

There are three different logger modules: Logger, LoggerLite, and SerialLogger.

All modules should take a parameter of a logger and invoke logger.log(String tag, String data) to log data.

Logger

The Logger module is for SD writing. It has two main functions:

Firstly: logger.log(String tag, String data)

This takes a logger tag and some data to be logged and writes a log line to the SD card.

e.g. [00:04.54][Instruments] Location: -1.01, -0.52, 0.92

Secondly: logger.log(String logLine)

This takes a whole log line and writes it to the SD card.

Logger writes "FLIGHTX.QFL" (Quadcopter Flight Log) files to the "logs" folder on the SD card. The flights are numerically ordered, so the first flight would be FLIGHT1.QFL.

The Logger will usually use sdChipSelect pin 10.

LoggerLite

The LoggerLite module is an incomplete attempt to reduce memory overhead using Bill Greiman's PetitFS (also included in the libraries directory).

LoggerLite would function the same as Logger on the front-end.

SerialLogger

SerialLogger functions similarly to Logger, except that it simply prints through the hardware Serial.

SerialLogger has two modes, chosen by the boolean sync. When sync is true the SerialLogger module waits for a response over Serial. When sync is false the SerialLogger module does not wait for a response over Serial.

SerialLogger is accompanied by SerialLogger.ino, a sketch that receives Serial input and uses the Logger module to write to SD.

Grabber

The Grabber module deals with release of the beanbag payload.

The main function of the module is grabber.run(float pos[], float target[]).

Logs when the payload is released.

Autopilot

The Autopilot module handles communications and, when active, controls the aircraft.

To output control PWM values it uses Servo objects for easy PWM output. Each control has its own object which outputs to the following digital pins:

pitch: 3
roll: 4
yaw: 5
throttle: 6

The Autopilot receives its activation signal on digital pin 2. The active signal is 1900 microseconds +/- 100.

The Autopilot requires three external global variable declarations in sketches that use it:

volatile unsigned long lastPWMTime;
volatile uint16_t pwmValue;
volatile bool autopilotActive;

Arduino Pin Connections

Pin	Connection
D0	SerialLogger RX
D1	SerialLogger TX
D2	Autopilot PWM Activation Input
D3	Pitch Servo Output
D4	Roll Servo Output
D5	Yaw Servo Output
D6	Throttle Servo Output
D7	Grabber Servo Output
D8	MSP SoftSerial RX
D9	MSP SoftSerial TX
D10	Autopilot Activation Relay Output
D11	SerialLogger Writing LED
D12	Autopilot Active LED
D13	General Loop Running LED
A0	X-Axis IR Input
A1	Y-Axis IR Input
A2	Z-Axis IR Input
A3
A4
A5	Autopilot Digital Activation Input