Airspeed...

[madcobra]

Dear Tom,
Might you add more future in next hardware..get an analog in for airspeed sensor? I would like to user it for keep motor and speed of my plane stab..
Thanks

[Tom]

Maybe in the long future, but not in the short future.

Auto-throttle will be new in the next version, so this is just a first step

[madcobra]

Ah, You mean auto-throtte by using GPS speed ?

[daedalus]

Analog airspeed sensor means at least the following:
- new code
- add components price (sensor, Pitot, connection tubes)
- add weight (sensor, Pitot, connection tubes, airframe modifications)
- add multiple points of failure (code, sensor, Pitot - I've had on a real airplane twice in a week bugs and dirt into the Pitot tube resulting in indications of 20% real airspeed)
- for good results one should calibrate sensor-Pitot

An incorrect measurement is worse than a good estimation.

My proposal here is to evaluate the possibility to implement something similar to what exist on the UAVDevBoard - wind estimation without an airspeed sensor - the result is an approximation of both airspeed and wind speed.

Take a look at the theory:
http://gentlenav.googlecode.com/files/W ... mation.pdf
and the implementation:
http://code.google.com/p/gentlenav/sour ... /estWind.c

[Tom]

Very good comment, that was indeed my intention.