Re: [Paparazzi-devel] Problems getting an overview of Paparazzi

[Gareth Roberts]

Marcus's suggestion is a good one if you have a good level of familiarity  
with Linux and embedded systems.

Assembling your own tiny is not really 'engineering' (it's just difficult  
to do well) - is this an undergraduate group project, and if so is there a  
requirement to have an element of novelty in the design?
Assembling a UAV is a much more difficult task than people always assume!   
I've seen 10-20 undergrad groups who in the past have tried to build a  
Paparazzi-powered UAV and not one of them actually got anything working  
autonomously.
Paparazzi do not 'support' parts - we just have a list of stuff that we  
know works!  There are a lot of design decisions you will have to make  
alone.
The makeup of your group will also influence this - if there are more  
'structures' than 'systems' guys, you might want to think about changing  
the airframe design instead?
--G

On Tue, 16 Nov 2010 10:46:51 -0000, Christian Merfels  
<address@hidden> wrote:

> Hi Gareth,
>
> thanks for your reply, it cleared up some things. I managed to get the
> simulation running in Paparazzi and I read a lot on the wiki (even
> though i didn't understand everything).
>
> So, for a real flight, one would - after configuring Paparazzi - compile
> the necessary code and flash the board with it, in order to enable the
> UAV to do all the algorithmic work?
>
> Well, if that is how it's done, than one would normally need to use the
> transmitters, the board and everything else supported by Paparazzi (as
> suggested by you). But as our task is not to just assemble an UAV - we
> need to do some engineering work - the only possibility would be to
> build an own Tiny2 board. Is this correct??
>
> Thanks for the warm welcome!
> Best regards,
> Christian
>
>
> > None of your current hardware will be much use I'm afraid.
> >
> > You need the autopilot unit itself which is called a Tiny.  This goes in
> > the aircraft.
> > http://paparazzi.enac.fr/wiki/Tiny_v2#Architecture
> >
> > You can't stabilise a UAV via the ground, there is too much latency.
> > The paparazzi board (Tiny) does all the work, the ground station simply
> > displays what is going on and allows changing high level flight
> > parameters (current waypoint etc).
> >
> > If this is your first UAV project, forget the gyro - Paparazzi
> > traditionally uses infra-red level sensors, which are described on the
> > wiki.
> >
> > Have any of you got experience with model aircraft?  You will need
> > someone who is competent at flying model aircraft.  Your Twinstar should
> > be fine.  You almost certainly do not want to build your own Tiny board
> > - I would highly recommend purchasing from one of the suppliers, listed
> > on the wiki.
> >
> > An example of everything you need is here (I'm not promoting this
> > particular supplier, they are just the only one I'm currently aware of
> > with a photo of all the stuff you need!):
> > https://mini.ppzuav.com/osc/product_info.php?cPath=2&products_id=68&osCsid=jug5m75orjn3rvq182qhmq8vfaquggjc
> >
> >
> > Also, read getting started on the wiki:
> > http://paparazzi.enac.fr/wiki/Getting_Started
> >
> > I would recommend maybe reading through the wiki a couple of times, and
> > then trying to run a simulation as described in the getting started
> > section just to see how everything fits together.
> >
> > All that said, welcome to the mailing list and to the Paparazzi  
> > community!
> > --G
> >
> > On Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:03:14 -0000, Christian Merfels
> > <address@hidden> wrote:
> >
> > > Hello together,
> > >
> > > I'm an engineering student from Lyon who got currently involved in a
> > > project of building an UAV. We took over the project from another  
> > > group,
> > > which already put some work in this. Right now, some hardware was
> > > already bought:
> > > - a microcontroller (PIC16F876A, 20Mhz)
> > > - a receiver/transmitter set (ARM-U8, frequence 868Mhz)
> > > - a GPS chip (EM406A)
> > > - a quartz (20Mhz)
> > > - a gyroscope (IDG 500Dual)
> > > - a batterie
> > > - some cables
> > >
> > > (As we think that the receiver/transmitter doesn't work with Paparazzi
> > > (?), we are probably going to change them.)
> > >
> > > Our goal is to buy a Twinstar II, build the necessairy card, wire
> > > everything together and than control the drone from the ground via
> > > Paparazzi.
> > >
> > > Now as I have described the setting, do you guys think this is  
> > > possible?
> > > I'm not quite sure about the true function and work done by Paparazzi;
> > > am I correct when I say:
> > > * Paparazzi does all the aerodynamics calculation
> > > * It than sends the current speed and direction orders to the plane
> > > * The card on the plane needs to interpretate the orders and do the
> > > actual adjustments of control signals / power levels
> > > * The plane itself sends back GPS / gyroscop signals to Paparazzi
> > >
> > > So our main work would come down to the above described interpretation
> > > of orders. Is our microcontroller sufficient for this?
> > >
> > > I'm sorry for this quite lengthly explanation, but I tried to keep it
> > > short anyways :-). When reading the Paparazzi Wiki, talking to the old
> > > group and our tutor, we got a lot of different infos about Paparazzi's
> > > mode of operation + capabilities, so we thought it would be the best to
> > > ask you guys directly.
> > >
> > > Best regards,
> > > Christian
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Paparazzi-devel mailing list
> > > address@hidden
> > > http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/paparazzi-devel
>
>
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