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May 21, 2015

A

ERLE-BRAIN

Erle-brain

is an

open hardware

and

open source

Linux-based autopilot to make drones. It con-

sists of a BeagleBone Black and a PixHawk Fire Cape and comes with a Debian image flashed,

ROS preinstalled and the latest ready to fly code.

We ship Erle-brain with the following characteristics:

• Debian Wheezy 7.5

• ROS Indigo Igloo

• APM

• Cortex-A8 @ 1 GHz 4 GB eMMC and microSD card capable - 512 MB RAM

• 12 PWM outputs

• RC Input using either PPM-SUM or S.Bus

• 1 USB Host, 1 UART, 3 I2C, Buzzer connector, Failsafe connector.

The hardware has many more peripherals and we are working hard to bring them out.

Erle-Copter, a smart drone powered by Linux

16

Summary of Contents for ERLE-COPTER

Page 1: ...Erle Copter a smart drone powered by Linux Operation Manual ...

Page 2: ...Parts 4 3 Safety and failsafes 6 4 Learn to fly 9 4 1 Flying modes 12 5 First flight 14 5 1 Attaching propellers 14 5 2 Connecting to Erle Brain 14 5 3 Steps to flight save 14 A Erle Brain 16 B ROS 17 C Specification 18 D Resources 18 E License 19 Erle Copter a smart drone powered by Linux 2 ...

Page 3: ...eight of up to 2 kilograms Erle Copter is the first smart drone that flies with Linuxand includes ROS as the SDK for drone app development 1 1 A MARKETPLACE FOR DRONE APPS TogetherwithCanonicalandtheOpenSourceRoboticsFoundation wearepushinganewmar ketplace for robot and drone applications An open platform that attracts innovators and ex perts to collaborate and compete in the future marketplace of d...

Page 4: ...ntroller The Power Module incorporates both a way to power your autopilot accessories and report battery voltage and current to Erle Brain Erle Copter makes use of rechargeable Lithium Poly mer LiPo batteries More about batteries and charg ers here Provides WIFI connection to Erle Brain Erle Copter a smart drone powered by Linux 4 ...

Page 5: ...ion to Erle Brain 4 x Electronic speed controller ESC 4 x Brushless motors GPS Compass Radio communicatios in 2 4Ghz band Telemetry 915MHz or 433MHz Propellers 10 4 5 Propellers 10 4 5 self tightening Erle Copter a smart drone powered by Linux 5 ...

Page 6: ...ellers Never place your hands near the propellers while Erle Copter is armed All unmanned aerial vehicle UAV operators should abide by all regulations from such organizations as the ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization and their own na tional airspace regulations FRAME 1 SAFETY Environmental factors such as wind and GPS irregularities can cause instability in flight Erle Copter will attem...

Page 7: ...GPS SIGNAL Erle Copter requires an active GPS signal before takeoff If Erle Copter loses GPS signal in flight it will trigger a GPS failsafe indicated with a high high high low tone and automatically switchtomanualcontrol standard altitude holdmode Alwaysbe preparedto regainmanual control of Erle Copter at any time while flying and choose an unobstructed flying area to im prove GPS signal strength Wh...

Page 8: ...riance will appear on the HUD And EKF DCM error will be written to the dataflash logs If flying in a flight mode that does not require GPS nothing further will happen but you will be unable to switch into an autopilot flight mode Loiter PosHold RTL Guided Auto until the failure clears If flying in a mode that requires GPS Loiter PosHold RTL Guided Auto the vehicle will switch to pilot controlled LAND M...

Page 9: ...May 21 2015 4 LEARN TO FLY THROTTLE Erle Copter a smart drone powered by Linux 9 ...

Page 10: ...May 21 2015 YAW Flight Tip When adjusting orientation move the left stick horizontally without changing its vertical position Erle Copter a smart drone powered by Linux 10 ...

Page 11: ...ation The yellow arms face forward and the black arms face backward Before using the right stick use yaw to keep Erle Copter fac ing in outward orientation so that the black arms face towards you and the yellow arms face away from you Erle Copter a smart drone powered by Linux 11 ...

Page 12: ...ticks will continue to hold position Note Good GPS position low magnetic interference on the compass and low vibrations are all important in achieving good loiter performance RTL RTL stands for Return to Launch and when activated Erle Copter navigates from its current position to hover above the home position The home positioned is set as the point where the copter was armed The copter will first r...

Page 13: ...e Auto mode incorporates the altitude control from altitude hold mode and position con trol from Loiter mode and should not be attempted before these modes are flying well All the same requirements apply including ensuring that vibration levels and compass in terference levels are acceptable and that the GPS is functioning well including returning an HDOP of under 2 0 AUTOTUNE AutoTuneattemptstotun...

Page 14: ...rm Erle Copter before takeoff Propeller Fastening Lock Tighten the propeller in this direction Lock Tighten the propeller in this direction Un fastening Unlock Remove the pro peller in this direction Unlock Remove the pro peller in this direction FRAME 3 FLIGHT TIME Damaged propellers should be replaced by purchasing new ones if necessary 5 2 CONNECTING TO ERLE BRAIN FRAME 4 USING A WIFI DONGLE 5 ...

Page 15: ...bove center Rotate counter clockwise and clockwise by mov ing the left stick left and right Flyforward backward left orrightbymovingthe right stick in the direction you want to fly Release the right stick to level Lower the left stick below center to descend After landing hold the left stick down left until the motors stop spinning Disconnect the battery Erle Copter a smart drone powered by Linux 1...

Page 16: ...d the latest ready to fly code We ship Erle brain with the following characteristics Debian Wheezy 7 5 ROS Indigo Igloo APM Cortex A8 1 GHz 4 GB eMMC and microSD card capable 512 MB RAM 12 PWM outputs RC Input using either PPM SUM or S Bus 1 USB Host 1 UART 3 I2C Buzzer connector Failsafe connector The hardware has many more peripherals and we are working hard to bring them out Erle Copter a smart ...

Page 17: ...be consumed by any number of other nodes in cluding filters loggers and also higher level systems such as guidance pathfinding etc Note that nodes in ROS do not have to be on the same system multiple computers or even of the same architecture You could have a Arduino publishing messages a laptop subscribing to them and an Android phone driving motors This makes ROS really flexible and adaptable to th...

Page 18: ... Low battery voltage 10 5V High battery voltage 12 6V Battery cell limits 4S Radio range up to 1 Km Flight time 15 20 minutes FRAME 5 FLIGHT TIME Flight time depends on wind conditions elevation payload temperature humidity fly ing mode and pilot skill D RESOURCES Hardware https erlerobotics com blog erle copter Store https erlerobotics com blog tienda Forum forum erlerobotics com Online doc Erle C...

Page 19: ... License To view a copy of this license visit http creativecommons org licenses by sa 3 0 or send a letter to Creative Commons 171 Second Street Suite 300 San Francisco California 94105 USA If you plan on using this material for commercial purposes get in touch with us at contact erlerobot com Erle Copter a smart drone powered by Linux 19 ...

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