A Low-Cost Research Autopilot for System Identification
Jason Smith, Evandro Gurgel do Amaral Valente, Ryan D. Eubank, Ella M. Atkins · Infotech@Aerospace · 2005
*† ‡ § The Solus research UAV integrates low -cost Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) pr oducts into an extensible computing and sensor package. Reconfigurable autopilot software running on the QNX real -time operating system gathers sensor data at sufficient frequency and fidelity to enable system identification via post -flight data analysis. This paper describes the Solus UAV hardware and its reconfigurable autopilot software. Results demonstrate the importance of sensor accuracy and filter tuning, requiring a tradeoff between high frequency noise rejection and accurate maneuver characterizati on. In addition, the paper presents lessons learned during the development and integration of UAV sensor and autopilot systems.