Intro

The Santa Cruz Low-cost UAV GNC System is a high-end UAV Autopilot that is currently under development by the Autonomous Systems Lab at the University of California Santa Cruz. Although not ready for prime time, the photo log and the video library show some significant progress towards a fully functional platform.

The SLUGS Autopilot offers the following features:

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Designed from the ground-up to be easily reprogrammable using Mathworks' Simulink and The Real Time Workshop Embeded Coder.

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Fast execution time. The main processing cycles are executed at 100Hz. Telemetry reports of attitude and position at 100 Hz and the rest of the messages scheduled at 10 Hz.

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Powered by two dsPICs DSCs; one for sensor fusion and attititude estimation from a rich sensor suite. The other for control and communications tasks, providing enough processing power for complex algorithms.

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Fully integrated with Google Earth to allow the Ground Station operator to create flight way points and display the UAV's flight trajectory in 3D.

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Small enough to fit in a tactical UAV but able to drive up to ten different servos. It also includes a multiplexor to choose between pilot and automatic control.

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Full featured Gound Station software with graphical displays for all of the UAV telemetry. More than 15 different telemetry senteces to report the full status of the UAV.

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Easily go from Simulink simulation to Embedded code. Test your algorithms in Simulink then download them to the Autopilot without any effort.

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Complete Hardware-In-the-Loop simulator allows you to test new algorithms directly in the auto pilot without leaving your desk. No more waiting for flying to test new ideas.

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Open. Hardware schematics, layout, and sofware source code available via a GIT repository with an MIT Open Source License.

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Very low power allows to run on a typical RC battery for extended time. You can select to power the receiver and MUX from the same battery, or use an additional battery via configuration jumpers.

Intro »