MSD Project P10236:Configurable Control Platform

for Unmanned Vehicles

Project Introduction

P10236 Introduction

Presentation Topics• The Need for P10236• Objectives and Deliverables• History of Project Family• Customer Needs and Engineering Specifications• Risks• Concept Development and Selection• External Benchmarking

P10236 Introduction

The Need for P10236

• UAV has completed 1st-generation airframe• Next phase: control electronics

– P09233: Aircraft Controls, initial interface work– P09122: MAV II, highly successful integration

• Extend previous efforts to increase system flexibility, ease of integration, configurability

• Harris Corporation, RF Division

P10236 Introduction

Our Objective

• A control electronics product that:– Provides a processing core on which to run control

code from compiled Simulink control models– Interfaces with a configurable variety of I/O

sensors and peripherals for multiple vehicle types– Is highly modular: measurement, filtering,

processing, and command functions being separable and independent, but easily integrated

– Is accurate, “black box” package, highly flexible

P10236 Introduction

Deliverables

• A control unit to store and run Simulink code• Highly modular unit that is easy to implement in

multiple or at least in the RIT UAV • Design and Programming Documentation

P10236 Introduction

UAV- 09233

• Ambitions were to measure GPS, velocity, altitude, roll, yaw, pitch, and power consumption

• Full IMU and control system were never planned on being developed

• Microcontroller approach– Could have worked

Project and Family History

Problems

• Team lacked programming experience to implement things on the MCU

• MCU Dev board was damaged while attempting to fit it in their case

• Group was unable to read samples from IMU, and was unable to write GPS data to SD card reliably

Project and Family History

Lessons learned

• An MCU approach is feasible and should be considered

• Care should be taken when modifying prebuilt board or laying out a custom board

• Team had a decent sensor outfit• Enclosure was engineered very well

Project and Family History

MAV2 - P09122

• Took softcore on FPGA approach– One core devoted to gathering data from sensors

(GPS, IMU)– Other core devoted to running control system

code and outputting actuator commands• Control system was meant to stabilize flight controls

• Designed gimbal to test sensor data• Control system was modeled and exported

from Simulink

Project and Family History

Problems

• Autocode generator didn’t generate code that could be compiled and ran on their softcore

• Precision and fixed point architecture conflicted with Simulink’s expectations of a target architecture

Project and Family History

Lessons Learned

• FPGA solution is feasible• Split softcore approach is of interest• Architecture and compiler toolchain should be

selected to be compatible with Realtime Workshop generated code

Project and Family History

Other projects

• Data Acquisition P09311 explored, but scope and objectives fundamentally different.

Project and Family History

Customer NeedsEngineering Specs

• (See EDGE_MASTER_SHEETS.xls– Customer Needs Tab (“1”)– Engineering Metrics Tab (“5”)– Needs to Metrics Mapping Tab (“5b”)

P10236 – Versatile Adaptive ControllerP09233 – Airframe Measurements

P10231 – Airframe Telemetry

Measurement Unit (MU)

•FPGA / DSP / MC•Input: Known Type•Output: Known Comm Protocol

Actuator Unit (AU)Controller Unit (CU)

ServoCmd_1

ServoCmd_2

ServoCmd_3

ThrottleCmd

e.g.

GPSIMUTachAltitude

e.g.

ServoPos_2

Motor CurrServoPos_3

ServoPos_1

Battery Volt

INPUTS

DigitalSerialAnalogAnalog(PWM)(PWM)(PWM)AnalogAnalog

CameraLink (or CCD)

•FPGA / DSP / MC•Matlab / Simulink Autocode•Internal DAQ (SD card)

External Simulink Code Interface

Telemetry• FPGA / DSP / MC

• Measurements• Imagery

• Measurements• Imagery• Int. Control Variables• Actuator Commands

Ground Commands• Waypoints• Servo Cmds.• Take Image

Imagery

DAQ• NIDAQ• Direct USB

Universal Control System for Autonomous Vehicle Applications

Receive: Display Vehicle Info (GPS, etc.)Receive: Display Vehicle ImagesInternal: Test Control AlgorithmsTransmit: Vehicle Actuator CommandsTransmit: Vehicle Waypoint DestinationsTransmit: Vehicle Imagery Requests

Field PC• GUI •Labview• Matlab• Visual Studio

Digital

Digital

Digital

Digital

Analog

Analog

•FPGA / DSP / MC• Input: Known Comm Protocol• Output: Known Type•Control Switch Capable of Ground or Onboard Control

P09235: Aircraft PayloadP09561: Visible Spectrum Imaging System

Comm.Protocol

Comm.Protocol

Internal DAQ• SD cardInternal DAQ

• SD card

Harris’ Proposal

Name Description

T.J. Bordelon's Autonomous EZ-STARHobby plane with onboard IMU. All control is done on ground station http://bordelon.net/ezstar.html

Microbot APS Platform

Reconfigurable autopilot platform. Uses 32-bit RISC processor for control and a separate FPGA for configurable IO http://www.microboticsinc.com/rc_uav

_autopilot.html?gclid=CIPky9i4jZoCFQoMDQodYShJFg

autopilot.sourceforge.netOpen source hobby helicopter autonomy. All control is processed on-board using an AVR Mega103. http://autopilot.sourceforge.net/prototy

pe.html

rc-autopilot.deRC airplane/helicopter. Basic autonomy is proposed using a PIC microcontroller. No flight tests to date. http://rc-autopilot.de/wiki/index.php/RC

_Helicopter_Autopilot#HardwareAutopilot Hardware for an Autonomous Helicopter

Used Rabbit controller alongside an FPGA for configurable interfaces to sensors and other peripherals

http://crrl.poly.edu/~tlng/Autopilot/AP.html

ViacopterMulti-Rotor custom helicopters. Ground station for flight control. http://vicacopter.com/index.php

Rotomotion UAV Helicopter Controller Commercial UAV controller. Fully autonomous systemhttp://www.rotomotion.com/prd_UAV_CTLR.html

DJI XP3.1Commercial helicopter autopilot. No further architectural information available.

http://www.dji-innovations.com/en/pro_frame.html

External Projects

Concept DevelopmentSee HIGH_LEVEL_SYSTEM_CONCEPTS.xlsBrainstorm tab is firstSubsequent tabs for each subcategory

P10236 Introduction

UAV Completion

P10236 Introduction

System Level Design

P10236 Introduction

I/O Control ConceptsConcept I:

Many microcontrollers FPGA cores

Concept II:

Single microcontroller FPGA core

Risk Assessment

• (Master Planning Spreadsheets xls)