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One of the things I claimed possible with the gluonpilot is flying both my funjet AND a quadrocopter with it.

Well it is possible! Even using some very cheap components.

Despite the use of SI-units (and thus floating points) in every line of code, an update rate of 333Hz is no problem. Except for a few lines in control.c, and the use of simple_quaternion.c instead of ahrs_kalman_2x3.c, the code is exactly the same as the one I use for flying my funjet.

Here you can see the first flight:

Autopilots are so much fun!

After finishing the circle navigation code I decided to test it by letting my funjet climb until the critical point where you can barely see it's orientation (but still can!). Then I turned the motor off to let it descent.

The result is a very cool KML file:

After successfully stabilizing funjets (and other planes), it's time to tackle the quadrocopters!

The code was slightly changed to make the filter and control loops run at 200Hz, the ESC's are updated at 400Hz.

Gyroscope values are sent directly to the ESC's for fast response times (D-term). Filtered angles are used for the absolute attitude (P-term, slower response).

Hopefully the weather will be better next weekend so we can do some real tests!

This is on the future roadmap ;-)

A blocked servo (NEVER use cheap servos) caused a fatal crash (from 50m height straight down). My good old funjet is no more...

Here comes the Funjet Ultra! I took this opportunity to build a nice airframe for the gluonpilot module!

Everything is under the so-called "turtledeck". This turtledeck is a major contributor to the structural strenght of the funjet. I added some carbon reinforcements to make sure it all remained stiff and strong:

The open hatch allows easy access to the module

The gate is closed with the carbon bar, which is also used for structural strenght

Looking nice and sleek!

Ready to fly!

For most people, accessing the SVN code repository is a bigger hassle than I expected. As a result, I'm planning to make releases of both the firmware and the Gluonpilot configuration tool. The files can be found in the download section. Version 0.2 is the latest release and supports everything (datalogging, configuration, stabilization) except navigation (which is currently undergoing tests). Stay tuned!